I was chatting recently to a man who is financially successful but personally distressed. What was apparent is that he had fallen into the trap of “constant improvement”.
He creates remarkable results in his business. His clients are satisfied and so is his bank manager.
But he is always running. He likes to think he is running toward success by constantly improving his systems. But he is in fact running away from something else – and that is the idea of never being good enough!
You see, if he were truly good enough, nothing would need improving.
Don’t worry – even when you feel great about yourself, you’ll still have drive toward your goals. It’s the mental drain of “constant improvement” that sometimes makes that journey difficult.
Action – Are you always looking for ways to improve things? If so, why are you not yet good enough?
Excellent post! People want more money & more possessions, but “more” is never enough. Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have. I’m so glad I found your blog. Best wishes. Scott
Great advice, Nancy. It is also consistent with Kurt Lewin’s change management model of “Unfreeze – Change – Refreeze”. After a change (personal, professional, or organizational), there is an important step of “refreezing” things — or holding things steady for a while. This provides time for the changes to take affect; it gives people a chance to evaluate the change; and it gives everyone an opportunity to rest for a while before moving on to the next challenge.
I’m not familiar with that model Gregg. I’ll go look it up – sounds very interesting. Thanks for posting!
WOW, what a great post and I love the replies from Scott and Gregg. I am so guilty of this, I know I am very good at what I do but I am always looking for ways to improve what I should be freezing. I love change and growth but I need to enjoy the successes more and stop trying to be the very best at everything I do. I need to enjoy where I am now and smell the roses.
What could you do (in a way that another person would know that it is happening) to more consciously smell the roses, every day?