Go Big or Go Home
I was born an overachiever. It's in my blood. Woven into my DNA. I grew up before the days of participation trophies, the days when you had to work hard for what you wanted. I have a type-A personality and I thrive on competition. So what's a gal like me to do in this new world of underachieving?
I know what you're thinking, but I'm telling you, we are living in a world that is obsessed with underachieving. A world where it's ok not to give it all you've got. Where it's ok to make excuses, not for why you failed because you tried and it didn't work out, but you failed because you didn't try.
It's a world where we walk away from jobs we have tenure at because we were passed up for the promotion we wanted. After all, it's easier to start a new job from the bottom than it is to stick around and prove why we're worthy of the next advancement. Right?... It's a world where we leave relationships because it's easier than giving our partners the respect they deserve by putting in the time and hard work needed to repair the broken bond.
Maybe you're wondering what's wrong with this underachieving mentality that seems to be infecting the minds of the masses. Well, I'll tell you. By submitting to underachievement, you'll be settling for mediocrity and never excelling at anything. You'll never have a sense of fulfillment. You will have bland relationships and a lackluster life. But on the flip side, you won't have to work very hard, so there's that...
People talk about how being an overachiever isn't good for you. There have been books written on the topic. They say it is damaging to our psyche to be so competitive, but I beg to differ. I'm not competitive when it comes to money, status, or worldly possessions but I am when it is about striving to be a better person, learning and growing. There's a whole generation coming up that doesn't want to put the work in and frankly, I don't want to be in that category. I don't want to settle for mediocrity. I don't want to be an underachiever.
I have always been competitive, but rather than competing against other people, my biggest competitor has always been myself. If I'm not beating my own record, I'm not making progress. In fact, that's how I determine that I am making progress. I will shamelessly tell you that as a child growing up, I was constantly on a mission to beat my scores in the stacks of video games that I played. When I managed to top my most recent score, I didn't walk around gloating. Instead, I was overwhelmed with a sense of relief. Yes, I was that kid.
In work, relationships and hobbies, my mentality has always been "go big or go home." From that nerdy ten-year-old with the broken wrist and video game control in hand to the high school senior who graduated valedictorian of her class, to the woman I am now, fighting to connect with everyone I can and make the best of every relationship - my life motto has been "work hard, love hard, play hard."
My only caveat to this principle is if I can't put my whole heart into something, I walk away. I don't like to half-ass things, so I'd rather not do them at all if I'm not going to do them right. There have been several times in my life that I've had to walk away and leave commitments, opportunities, and even people behind because I was unable to put my whole heart into that particular facet of my life, and looking back, my life is better because I let them go.
The secret to being an overachiever in an underachieving world is putting all your effort into everything you do, and doing it with humble pride, but also knowing when it's time to walk away because you can't.
The truth is, I like being an overachiever. I like making progress, even if it's in baby steps, and I enjoy the sense of fulfillment I get when I do. I will always be that girl who likes beating my own record, who takes pride in knowing that I'm becoming a better person. I will always enjoy rolling my sleeves up and putting in a little elbow grease to work on the aspects of my life that I can improve. I like doing this because I believe that if you don't put your whole heart into it - your whole being - then it wasn't worth the effort in the first place. I go big or I go home.
