How Do I Compare?

Our American culture is obsessed with keeping score. We track the scores of our favorite teams on our cellphones. Businesses are rated against similar businesses. My family regularly checks the user and critics ratings for movies before we go to see them. We keep score on everything!

What about our career? Do we keep score on how we are doing in our career path? I know, we like to compare ourselves against our co-workers! Usually. I don't think the best way to keep score of our success is by comparing ourselves to other people though. And it's not best to compare our success by our title or salary. Those measures never really produce long-term satisfaction. 

A better question to ask yourself is: "Am I progressing towards my full potential?" We are all unique individuals with different talents, likes, dislikes, education, etc. So comparing ourselves to others is fruitless! The only person we should compare ourselves to is the person we are capable of becoming. That is the score that matters. Imagine your full potential as a whole person, not just technical ability. What is your potential in every facet of your life? Where are you now in each of those areas? How can you grow in each area? Who can help you grow in each area? These are just a few questions to grow on.

The New Comfortable

We are certain we know our limitations. With the help of our critics, we have learned very well what we can do and what we cannot do. We have listened to the experts tell us what is possible given our race, our education, our heritage, our IQ, etc. We have listened to family and friends who didn't want to see us fail, so they told us to "face reality." All our lives we are told what we can't do.

I read a biography while on vacation last week, "Unbroken" - which is about Louie Zamperini, an American POW in the Pacific Theater. The story of what he was able to endure and accomplish was remarkable! Clearly, we don't know what the human soul is capable of accomplishing. Clearly we underestimate our limitations.

It is good to set goals in our lives. People who set goals, and write them down, are far more likely to achieve more than those that don't. But don't assume the goal is your limitation. It is not! As we push ourselves beyond our comfort zone, we create a new comfort zone. What was once frightening to consider becomes the new comfortable. But we should never remain comfortable for long. To remain comfortable is to settle for less than our potential.

To achieve what looks impossible, we have to bust out of the comfortable.