Time to Stop Settling

“...And the world is filled with people who can't go to high school, never mind college, and who certainly can't spend their time focused on whether or not they get the good parking space at work.

And so, the obligation: don't settle.
To have all these advantages, all this momentum, all these opportunities and then settle for mediocre and then defend the status quo and then worry about corporate politics--what a waste.”

This quote is on page 135 of Seth Godin’s book, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us and it hit me like a ton of bricks.  Since last fall I’ve thought I should be doing more, but I had my excuses so I didn’t.  I’ve been settling for the status quo, and complaining about it when what I should be doing is working to change it.  My excuse has always been that I wasn’t in a position to make changes, but this book rips that excuse away as well, as Seth points out that you can lead no matter what your position you are in.  Sure, it may be hard, but if you really believe in it, isn’t worth some hard work and maybe some resistance?  Reading this book had really challenged me to step up, forget about excuses, stop settling for the status quo, and lead.

My high school principal and Pastor used to say:

“If you aren’t part of the solution, you are part of the problem”

It’s time to be part of the solution.  This doesn’t just apply to the work place, it applies to church, family, user groups, and PASS.

Thanks to Joe Webb (@JoeWebb) for recommending this book to me and now I’m recommending it to you.