The Difference Between Good & Great

In my many long years on this earth (insert giggles) and the numerous lives prior, I’ve come to understand why I keep certain people in my life and drop-kick others out; why I place my bets on certain people and why I disengage quickly from others. I believe that people can be divided up into two telling categories: 1) Those who live in fear and are driven by it; 2) Those who choose to put themselves in testing situations to explore their own capacity.

Great people see discomfort as a challenge to push themselves to learn a little more and test themselves. That is why some of the greatest companies were founded while the founders were in a state of discomfort.

However, most fall within the first category and have certain triggers that pull them into withdrawing, avoiding, running, or being passive aggressive; Often to the detriment of both themselves and others. Making fear-based decisions never leads to great. You may be good at what you do and to the people in your life, but you’ll never be able to be great until you face your fears and stop avoiding what makes you uncomfortable.

Most people involved in early stage venture are fueled by their anxiety and not their passion. They are so afraid that who they are inherently won’t be enough, that they fill their lives with false ambition and feel a need to ‘hustle and grind’ in order to validate their own existence. There is a vital difference between the founder who creates for sake of self validation due to insecurity, and the founder who creates because s/he is genuinely fascinated by the process and art of creation. The former eventually stops creating as recognition is offered, while the latter is a true innovator who continuously creates long after being recognized. True innovators are generally more grounded and offer insightful questions because their thought processes aren’t tainted by ego.

If there’s one big question you can ask yourself to embark on the journey to greatness, it is this: What do I fear? What are instances in my life in which I avoid problems, situations, people, etc? How can I test my own capacities and get outside of my comfort zone? And what have I learned about myself in the process?