Tag Archives: Personal growth

Good, Better, Not Best…

Posted in Motivation, Personal Growth by

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

Ladies of First Response

Posted in Motivation, Personal Growth by

Happy International Women’s Day to all my fellow women! We live in the Age of She! Gone are the days where women had only limited choices of occupation; we have the choice of being professionals, being mothers, or being both. As women, we stand on the shoulders of absolute giants. Whether or not you agree with the fundamental beliefs of particular notable women, there is no denying how they have blazed a trail for all of us.

Women who opened the door for us in medicine, aviation, emergency services, and science.

From the mother of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale –a social reformist and statistician in the Crimean War era. To Valérie André, a French army surgeon and parachutist turned helicopter pilot who flew into the combat zones of Vietnam to triage and retrieve casualties. On to Molly Williams, an African American slave woman, who answered the call as America’s first female firefighter when the men of the company were stricken with a virulent strain of flu.

These women laid the foundation for all of us. It is up to us to continue the push.

While women are, indeed, quite able to do all that men can, we often are underestimated, still. However, ladies, it is our job to stop pushing the fact we are women down the throats of our male peers and simply continue to advocate to the fact “I am an able bodied, human being, full of promise and passion, and I have the intellect you do… I am here, I am not going anywhere…”

We can be more than just our jobs. We can be mothers, girlfriends and wives, feminine and fun, absolute powerhouses in the gym… we are not defined strictly by our professions. However, we should recognize the time and place for each. Wear your make-up to work. Talk about your job at home. But always be cognizant there are people out there who will try to drag us down simply because we are not men–we garner a different kind of attention.

I recognize this may sound anti-female. But I promise it isn’t.

I work in a flight base where I am the lone female whereas the others have a more healthy distribution. I am not unaccustomed to being one of the only or one of a few females in a fire company. I was always the girl (stop) friend in the group of guys. So I had to earn my respect and it was made tougher by the fact I’m little (I graze 5 foot on a good day). I realized once I started focusing on myself more, I lost some of my friendships with the guys or other people started treated me differently. Don’t let it dishearten you! Continue to come in to your jobs, your schools, your places you volunteer and keep working hard–it will earn you the respect you want. However, embrace and improve yourself, personally, as well–just don’t shove it down the throats of your fellows because the ones who matter, will still be there through your changes.

International Women’s Day is a day with focus on overcoming bias against women. It is a day for us to build each other up and encourage each other to embrace who we are. So I challenge you to be the best you that you can be, in all avenues of your life. Remember to always treat yourselves with the respect you deserve and be positive to other women out there trying to build their own self-respect.

-Clear skies and tail winds!