“Success always demands a greater effort,” Winston Churchill wrote. It is because success is not a chair in which we finally sit. It is a door that opens into a larger room. Beyond it awaits greater possibilities, higher expectations and more lives we are capable of touching. What brought us this far may earn our entrance, but it will not carry us across the room.
Greater effort begins with a different understanding. It is not always about giving more energy but bringing more of ourselves to whatever is before us. It may mean thinking more boldly, preparing more carefully, listening more fully or remaining steadfast when easier choices present themselves. It is adding another measure of passion and excellence to our work, courage to our decisions and heart and intentionality to the life we are creating.
When this becomes our mindset, our journey gains a depth and richness that achievement alone can never provide. Our work acquires greater meaning, our relationships greater substance and our presence greater value to those we serve. Jonas Salk wrote, “The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.” With each greater effort, we do not simply travel farther, we travel deeper, discovering a fuller, larger life within the life we are already living and the person we are becoming. Our best is yet to come!
Have a beautiful and wondrous day and a magnificent Fall week!!!
