People confuse being satisfied with being at peace. They are not the same. Peace restores you. Satisfaction stops you. One keeps you grounded. The other keeps you stuck.
Bernie Marcus has this unbelievable quote.
“You cannot be satisfied with where you are because you have to think about all the lives you are not saving.”
Marcus was talking about building Home Depot, but the idea goes far beyond retail.
If you are satisfied, you are not hungry. If you are comfortable, you are not growing. If you settle, you stop stretching yourself toward the impact you could make while you are here. Said differently, if you settle, you shrink.
There is a time to rest, recover, and be peaceful. That is healthy and smart. What is not healthy is letting satisfaction become the only button on your remote control.
One of the best ways to stay hungry is to take yourself out of the center. Remove your own selfish preferences. Stop asking what you feel like doing. Start asking who needs you to be at your best today.
Think about it like this. Every night, you set an alarm without any guarantee that you will wake up the next morning. You do it because you have hope and something to do tomorrow. But tomorrow, that alarm is not just a signal to wake up. It is a reminder not to settle. It is a reminder that you have work to do, people to serve, and impact to create.
That alarm clock on your phone is not just a wake-up call. It is a reminder to attack today with a servant mentality. Because something amazing happens when you build that habit. You stop needing the alarm. You wake up excited to make someone else’s day.
Recharge when needed. Then get after it again for someone else.
If you settle, you shrink.

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Use Your Gifts,
John Eades
Creator, The Leadership Lens & The Optimistic Outlook
