Are You Satisfied?
What if ACU (my wife’s alma mater, enrollment 5,000) was satisfied with staying put in NCAA Division-2 Athletics? Then they would never have even had the opportunity, as a 14-seed, to play in March Madness, beaten a 3-seed Texas (50,000 students), and now be playing for a berth in the Sweet Sixteen!
ORU, a 15-seed (that’s Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, enrollment 3,000) has already won twice, beating a 2-seed Ohio State (60,000) and then a 7-seed Florida (55,000 students) to advance to the Round of 16. ORU does not play football, but perhaps decided to take a shot, so to speak, in basketball and compete with the big boys. Perhaps even took a calculated risk and found a niche to make a splash on the national scene. Otherwise, who’s ever heard of ORU and what’s their mascot anyways?
These schools were not satisfied with the status quo, which might sound like, “We’re a small school, so let’s just play it safe and stay in Division 2, that’s affordable and where we belong.” Perhaps even, “Where we are comfortable,” like we discussed last week.
I’m not sure you can shoot for the stars (Casey Cassum) in many areas of your life, but where is one place you need to grow, improve, stretch yourself and take a shot at going BIG? Wayne Gretzky of NHL fame and known as The Great One, said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” So where can you focus, prepare and work toward rising above average, perhaps even making it on the big stage?
What if David had not faced Goliath?
What if Esther had not spoken up for her people?
What if Daniel had not relied on his calling as God’s man on several occasions?
Don’t be satisfied. Think and pray about a goal you need to set or a challenge you need to take, then make a plan, start preparing and put in the work. It will be worth it. You may not win, but you will have tried and I'm confident you will be better because of it. Consider the following:
You set a goal to lose 20 pounds. Even if you only lose 15, you will feel better about yourself.
You want to get 10 new clients (sales, students, gifts) in 2Q. Even if you only get 5, you are better off.
Your goal is to meet 20 new people by summer. If you only meet 15, what a blessing!
You would like to read 2 books a month. If you only do half that, you're growing.
In Jim Collins' book, Good To Great, he referred to a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal). As a believer, I like to think of something that could only be explained by having God as a partner because alone, we could never have done it.
If your goal is big enough, it will require time, effort and energy, but you will be satisfied with the journey.
Don't settle, don't play it safe and make it happen.