No Sucking Allowed!

Striving for success. A worthy mission. But isn’t this just a nice spin on what we’re really trying to do — not achieving failure? Or at least avoiding mediocrity?

Be honest — we’d simply rather talk about kicking ass than not having our ass kicked. It shows better form. Charlie Sheen says it’s about “winning” but I’ll bet his true ambition is far more modest: not self-destructing.

If we’re honest with ourselves, I think the true motivation for many of us is not falling short. It’s the reason most of us get out of bed in the morning. Sure, we say we’re ready to “face the day”, but isn’t it more about what we’ll face if we don’t? C’mon, be honest! Our need to “be positive” is so ingrained that it’s uncomfortable to consider that it could be anything else. It’s scary to think that fear of failure could be the true driving force.

We all know that our time here is limited, but we also know that having a deadline is a great motivator! We go to school, study, learn and work hard in our careers to make the most of the time we are given. When I stop to think about it, it’s why I try to make every design better than the last and why I played so hard during my tennis match this morning. It’s why I’m not just dashing off this post, but rewriting it several times to tighten it up and make sure it says what I want. I don’t want to suck! And I don’t want others to think I suck! That’s really what it’s about — I’m driven to do what it takes to ensure the opposite result of failure. Or just mediocrity, for that matter.

Aside from the things that are simply out of our control, we are the masters of our own destinies. Life is what you make of it. In life, in work, in business, this blog — you’re only as good as what you’ve done last.

In fact, I’m so afraid of sucking that I don’t suck. Or do I have this all ass-backwards?