Greatness

So, I chose the known over the unknown. I chose safe success over challenging failure. I chose perceived perfection over actual growth…Until I realized that greatness follows a different path.

So many times, I’ve hesitated to bring up an idea, to publish a work, or do anything unless I could guarantee that it would be outstanding. 

Everything was only focused on results, and after one too many failures, embarrassments and disappointments, I started giving myself less opportunities for mistakes overall. Why risk it? It was simple statistics: the probability of making a mistake decreased as the number of attempts decreased. 

So, I chose the known over the unknown. I chose safe success over challenging failure. I chose perceived perfection over actual growth.

And I felt limited, even trapped.

Until I realized that greatness follows a different path.

The Great artist, Macklemore, says it well: “The Greats weren't great because at birth they could paint. The Greats were great because they'd paint a lot.” 

Listening to those lyrics, I let them sink in. The Greats beat the odds because they were willing to keep trying. They painted hundreds of pieces in the hopes that a few would be great. Again, it’s simple statistics: the probability of producing something great increases as you produce more things. More failed attempts means more chances of success. 

So why was I choosing to avoid failure when so much of it was part of success? Why was I choosing to try to be perfect when that prevented me from actually reaching my limits?

I had a choice in all of this, and it was time to re-choose.

Because the path to greatness is a resonant choice:

• To choose trusting the process over attaching to the outcome

• To choose loving the learning over fearing the failure

• To. choose leaning into the curiosity over casting out the judgement

• To choose reaching for what could be over contemplating what if

• To choose developing ourselves over comparing to others

The Greats are great because they choose their path.

The Greats are great because they find their own greatness.

The Greats are great because they believe one thing: we are all already Great, but we’ll never know until we try. 

Interested in finding your own greatness? Let’s chat!