Do you regularly ask yourself, or others, to “do something great”? Or do you think that just getting by is good enough? Or perhaps, like me, you don’t really think about it. But we should. Perhaps I thought about it more when 
I was still working than I do now that I am retired. But even then, I’m afraid, that though I may have set lofty goals, I was too often satisfied with any performance, as long as it wasn’t failure. Strive for Greatness (Jesse Lyn Stoner) shares a story about Abraham Lincoln in which he described a sermon as “the content was excellent; he delivered with elegance; he obviously put work into the message,” but it was not an “excellent sermon” because it didn’t “ask us to do something great.”
It’s true that we can’t all be as great as Abraham Lincoln, but it’s also true that we can strive for greatness, and expect greatness from our libraries, our organizations, our employees, our families, and ourselves. Stoner’s post lists 7 Keys to Greatness to help us do just that. I can’t choose one that resonates the most with me. Perhaps it is “See it through to the end. Don’t settle for less than you are capable of.” But a reply to one of the post’s comments really hits home, I think, and I ask you to keep in mind: “I never saw a vision statement that said, ‘Dare to be mediocre,’ yet too many are focused on beating the competition instead of daring to be great.”
Definitely food for thought for me, and I’m going to try to start striving for greatness, and asking others to do the same. How about you?
This speaks to me in a lot ways. For one I love the aspect of not competing against anyone else. That’s a great mentality to have. Two, I have perfectionist tendencies and have to balance striving for excellence between being frozen at the thought of not doing everything perfectly.
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It is hard to find that balance between doing your very best, and not doing anything at all because of the fear of not doing well enough. I do like the idea of asking others to do something great, and asking it of ourselves too. Thanks for stopping by; please come again!
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This is a great post, I was just thinking this depends on what interpretation one has of ‘great’ having recognised that I am not going to be like Piccasso nor Bill Gates I decided that my philosophy in life was going to be based on the following understanding: ‘If I can not do great things I will do small things in a great way’ that seem to be working for me.
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Of course! We cannot all be Picasso! But we can be great, not mediocre, in our own ways.
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Spot on Cheryl – we each need to carve out our own path rather than get hung up on what everyone else is up to 🙂
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Ain’t that the truth! Thanks, Michelle!
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