In his best selling business book Good to Great, Jim Collins says, “Good is the enemy of
great.” The point is that if something or someone is judged as good, there is little
incentive to improve. On the other hand, an obviously horrible situation is more likely to
incite action.
When it comes to health the tendency is to settle for “pretty good”. As long as you are not
in constant pain and can get through the day with minimal drug usage you are right in line
with the masses. Since you are no worse off than most of the people around you, you
see no need to take action. We tend to get into the habit of comparing our health with
those around us or with our acceptable definition of what it means to be healthy.
There are 2 major problems with this way of thinking.
First, most of the people around you, on average, have a horrible state of health. With
heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, etc. running rampant it’s a good bet
that the people you surround yourself with are a fair representation of these ailments.
Even if you are slightly better off than some people you know, is that really all that you are
willing to settle for?
Unless you make it a habit of hanging out with elite athletes and the extremely health-
conscious, then your circle of friends is probably not the best barometer to judge yourself
against.
Secondly, we have a tendency to broaden our definition of health to fit our current state.
Can’t walk the stairs anymore without getting winded? It’s not that you are in poor health,
you’re just getting older. “Sure I’m getting headaches every day, but that’s normal
considering the stress I’m under.” Unfortunately rationalizing your problems doesn’t
correct them.
It’s time to stop settling for good enough! You deserve no less than to live life at your
absolute maximum potential at all times.
Dorland’s Medical Dictionary defines health as “a state of optimum physical, mental, and
social wellbeing, and not just the absence of disease or infirmary.” In other words, feeling
good is not good enough. Being healthy is living at peak performance and experiencing
life at its fullest.
Thomas Edison said, “if we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound
ourselves.” Most of us have no idea how big the gap is between our current state of
health and our actual potential.
We can no longer afford to settle for “good”. It’s time to start astounding ourselves!
