I’m a relatively average person. I was never the first picked athlete, never at the top of the class, never voted most likely to succeed, or even voted most anything. But I’ve always been happy and have been successful throughout my life - I earned an undergrad Biology degree, was commissioned into the US Army, married an amazing woman, work as a government consultant, completed an Ironman, and earned a Master's degree from Johns Hopkins. I have a sense of great achievement at what has always appeared to be a result of a seemingly easy effort. But for a long time I viewed that success in a serendipitous, Forrest Gump kind of way – being in the right place at the right time, an accidental tourist, sheer dumb luck.
It wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized that easy, happy, average success was a result of an approach to life that forgoes an ethos that is driven into us from an early age. I avoided the all or nothing, perfect state-worshiping, work till you drop attitude that we think is the only path to happiness. I saw people stress, strive, and suffer all in achieving the same lot in life as mine. And ultimately I realized that ‘good’ is great, and ‘great’ isn’t worth the effort.
