You read that right. We need to stop being the best.

We need to stop having this ideal in our heads we need to hustle until we’re the best at what we do in our respective fields. 

By now you’re probably dismissing me as lazy and incompetent, or at minimum: copping out. 

Hear me out. 

When you climb to the top of ladder and run out of rungs, where is there left to go? Nowhere. So when you’re the best, what do you have left to strive for? Nothing. So what is to say you won’t fall to the level of complacency and eventual incompetence? Nothing. You’ll have your hungry ones who will fight to stay on top, sure. They’re the exception and not the rule. However, they too are not immune–that constant hustle is exhausting and complacency is pretty tempting. 

What if: instead, we tried to be better than ourselves yesterday but not as good as what we’ll be tomorrow?

Progress isn’t linear, it’s cyclic. It’s a war; each day a new battle against mediocrity. 

I don’t wanna be the best, I wanna be great. I don’t need to be known for how I was the best flight nurse or even the best nurse. I’d rather be remembered for my constant drive to better myself even when I was wrong. I’d rather be known for my passion even when I failed. I’d rather be known for my love of passing that love on to others or the inspiration I bequeathed.

I don’t wanna be the best because the best get cocky and they kill people. The best still can mess up because they know they’re the apex predators…there is a reason sharks don’t have to turn their heads and yet they die by swimming straight into nets. This is the concept of hubris from the Ancient Greeks and the basis of the Christian proverb: “pride cometh before the fall” (Proverbs 16:18).

Perhaps this seems like a controversial idea. Why wouldn’t someone want to be the best in a field that almost always requires and expects you to be the best of the best? A field that is highly competitive?

Because of complacency.

When you strive and hustle for so long and then get what you want, you get complacent. You know who isn’t complacent? The guy coming after your job. They’re working their ass off trying to get what you have. If you don’t wanna continue to earn your title—don’t worry, someone else will. 

I’m ok with other people being better than me. Because that gives me a constantly moving target to aim for. It keeps me excited and keeps me hungry for more. It makes me work and train. Having role models means I need to keep on my toes to stay great. I don’t want to be the best because I want to stay working for what I have. It makes me question “why” and “how”, not just nod and blindly say “ok, fine.”

We hold a great responsibility.

We’re the role models, we set the standards. People want what we have… that’s heavy. Not only do we have lives in our hands but we also hold the potential to inspire. Our work ethics model how others shape theirs. Eyes are on us when we shirk our duties to train, keep up our equipment, and maintain the competencies keeping us sharp and competitive. Taking out the fact it is a disservice to our constituents… it is a disservice to ourselves and those who look at us with stars in their eyes. 

And when they (these unbeknownst protégés of ours) come to us and tell us “I want to be just like you….” I hope we all have the humbleness to be able to look to these people and say “No… I want you to be better than me, be smarter and faster, more talented and successful than me… do more, be more than me… that’s my wish for you…” 

So don’t strive to be the best… strive to be better. Strive to stay as hungry as the first time you wanted to apply for the job. 

Don’t be good, be better, but don’t kill yourself being the best at the cost of your health, sanity, and life… the only one you’re competing with is yesterday-self and tomorrow-self. 

-Clear skies and tail winds, friends