I’ve decided to start reading the book Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom tonight and something struck me that I wasn’t sure we had really discussed in detail here yet: achievement.
Being a writer of a blog that is focused on growth, success, and accomplishment, it would seem out of place if I didn’t write an article on success and achievement here as well. What does it mean to be successful? What does it mean to achieve something?
I’ve always been of the mind that achievements were wastes of time. That if I ever achieved anything, it should be achieving the least accomplishments possible so that I would not get a big head.
It turned out that “big-headedness” was just an excuse for not trying anything at all.
Achievements are dependent upon the person who is achieving them. Yes, we all fawn over athletes who are accomplished in their relative sports. Michael Phelps is an amazing swimmer, and Drew Brees is an awesome quarterback. However, why don’t we ever condemn Michael Phelps for being a poor quarterback? Or condemn Drew Brees for being a slow swimmer?
Because that isn’t the goal they have set out for themselves.
If we were to judge Phelps’ success based on Brees’, then we would never approve of anything he did if he failed to become a rockstar quarterback in the NFL.
So, why do we condemn ourselves for failing to accomplish things we don’t set out to accomplish?
We push ourselves so hard to achieve things which never really matter. Whether they are expectations placed on us by others or by ourselves, we should never expect to be able to accomplish anything more than we shoot for. We condemn ourselves when our financial success is lacking compared to our siblings’. We condemn ourselves whenever we haven’t had a child yet when all of our friends have. We condemn ourselves whenever we don’t have the same car our neighbors have.
But who cares?
I am not a car guy. I think they are cool. I think some cars are cooler than others and I would love to learn how to do basic maintenance on my car on my own to save money and learn how it works. I even have a dream car. However, I will not (more than likely) ever spend the money to buy that dream car while guitars exist. I love music equipment. I love microphones. I love guitars. I love pianos. I love drums. Music is just awesome and the instruments by which we create music is even more interesting to me than playing it. That each microphone, guitar, and drum set sounds different blows my mind. So, my typical response to extra cash (if I’m to spend it) is to get something musical. Not a car.
My goal is different from a “car guy’s.” But my goal is not less important or incredible. If I accrue a collection of vintage gear from years of hard work, is that any less impressive than Jay Leno’s garage? I wouldn’t say so. Because our goals are different. Our tastes are different. I wouldn’t know the difference between the different engines or turbochargers. However, I can tell you all about the difference between a PAF pickup and a modern-voiced pickup.
You may be thinking, “What’s your point here?” My point is that you need to stop comparing your life to other people’s lives. You may not have the same goals. You may not be in the same step of the process. And you definitely don’t have the same stories. Learn to narrow your goals down to something which you actually want out of life before comparing yourself to someone else. If someone else has the same goals as you, then learn from them instead of beating yourself up because you aren’t where they are. Comparison kills contentment (as Chris likes to say). So, stop comparing, and learn to achieve your own goals that God has given you to accomplish something amazing in this life.
Get out there and accomplish YOUR goals. Not someone else’s.
Micah Davis
The Soapbox 