Close Enough

“Lots of people put in serious work for a while in pursuit of their goals,” Ben Bergeron said, “and eventually get to a place where they’re comfortable. They may not have achieved all their long-term goals, but they have achieved a good 90 percent, and they feel that they’ve checked all the boxes and are doing well enough to be satisfied.”

The people Ben Bergeron speaks of work hard. They get up and get after it day in and day out. 

The problem comes when they start seeing results. Just as growth is the number one killer of small business, results are the number one reason folks quit on their goals. 

They get “close enough” to their achievement and settle because the last little bit comes at the greatest cost. The first 80 to 90 percent is easy to work. Keep showing up and putting in the work and you’ll get most of the way there. 

It’s that last 15 to 20 percent that requires grit and perseverance. The ability to stick with it and keep putting in the work when results have slowed and it doesn’t feel like you’re taking ground.

True excellence is hanging in there and grinding through that last couple percentage points towards your goal. It is an unsatisfaction with anything less than your absolute best. 

You’re about to walk into a new week. It would be easy to settle this week and not push for that last little bit of growth. 

But you’re not interested in easy. That’s not why you’re here. You want excellence and are willing to stay the course, even when that voice in your ear whispers that you’ve come far enough. 

The grind

The grind gets a bad wrap. 

Most people think of it as a negative thing. 

In fact, most hate it. 

It’s hard, uncomfortable and that’s the point. 

Hard things make you grow and easy things don’t.  

So embrace the grind. 

Learn that it doesn’t matter how you feel. 

Don’t give up, push through it and see how your life changes.  

All the growth you seek is found in grinding it out.

Procrastinate on procrastinating.

You’re going to wake up tired one morning or you’re going to be tired at the end of a long day. 

You’re going to be busy and have a ton going on.

You’re going to have different excuses for why you can’t do X or Y. 

There’s always something. 

You could give in and put it off until tomorrow. That’s one choice. 

You could also do whatever it is despite those things. 

In short, you could procrastinate on procrastinating. 

Put off taking it easy until tomorrow.

If you still feel like you need a break when tomorrow comes, maybe you actually need it. 

Fear Is A Poor Motivator

Fear works. You can use it to get things done and to exert control over yourself and others. 

That doesn’t mean it’s the best or most effective strategy. 

You could walk from New York to LA, but there are more efficient and effective modes of transportation.

Fear based obedience is like walking. It might get you there, but it’s a giant waste of energy and a poor motivator. 

If you’re using fear as your primary motive, here are three effects you should see: 

1. Your motivation will lose power over time. Fear is an intense and draining emotion. You can only deal with it for so long. It eventually becomes exhausting. Slowly, you become too tired to care and indifferent to what happens. Fear based motivation is short-lived.

2. Admitting, learning and moving on from mistakes will be more difficult. You’re going to make mistakes. You’re going to do things wrong. That’s life. If you’re motivated by fear, you’ll have difficulty owning up to it when you do. You’ll fear reprisal and punishment for not living up to the standard. You’ll be tempted to rationalize and shift blame. 

3. You’ll have trouble enduring hardships. You’ll think that life is unfair and that you’re owed something better when difficulty comes. In other words, despair and bitterness will be the result of suffering if your motivation is fear based. 

Fear is a wimpy motivator. It’s not strong enough to carry you through. Fear might get you moving, but you’re going to need something more to reach the finish line. 

What’s that something more? 

Grace.  

Everything you have and everything you are is a result of grace. You don’t deserve it. It is a gift from God. 

When understood, this should become the greatest and most sustaining motivator in life. 

It is the complete opposite of fear. 

Grace’s becomes a stronger motivator over time. The more you realize and understand that everything in your life is a gift the more grateful you become. The more grateful you are, the more motivated you are to honor that gift with your life. 

Grace provides ground for you to own up to your mistakes without fear. If you're saved by grace, through faith, and everything in your life is because of God’s mercy, then you have nothing to fear from admitting your weakness. You’ll be more likely to share your struggles, learn from, and conquer them. 

Grace will carry you through the hard times. It will be the stone your feet find beneath the quick sand and troubles of this life. It will hold you up and keep you from drowning in despair. If God owns everything, then you are a steward. How you steward things displays your gratitude to God. 

Success Is Often Found On The Other Side of Drudgery

I’m not sure why inspiration waxes and wanes like the ocean tide. It just does. At least that's been my experience. There isn’t a big ‘a-ha!’ every time I sit down to work. Sometimes work is inspired play, it comes easy and fills my heart with joy. Other times it’s a battle of perseverance, that has me barely hanging on. 

But, I charge on, and so should you. All things worthy of our aim require great effort. We're going to have to roll up our sleeves and get things done the old fashioned way. 

We have to push through dry spells until at last inspiration strikes and work becomes play once more. We must soldier on, showing up each day. 

I wish I had something more uplifting and encouraging for you today, but this is all I have. A message to hang in there, and trust the process. 

It’s a lifetime thing becoming the painter, photographer, writer or whatever you want to be. “Nothing else matters,” Steven Pressfield said, “except sitting down every day and trying.” 

Go to bed a little earlier tonight, set your alarm across the room and get up tomorrow, ready to hone your craft once more and try. That’s all you can ask of yourself.