A Case of Whiplash

At the beginning of the year, I talked about my mantra. 2015 was going to be about, "finding my greatness." I wanted to push myself beyond good, beyond average.

But then it happened. And it was so easy to do...

Like 92% of New Year's resolution-makers who fail (most within the first week), I forgot about being great. I got busy, I lost focus, I forgot to push for MORE. I needed a reminder.

I got one. 

Over the weekend Shawn and I went to see a movie at Midtown Cinema called Whiplash. In the movie, a renowned music teacher uses extreme methods to help his students reach their potential. One of my fave quotes from the movie?

"There are no two words in the English language more harmful than good job." 

Now I know that is sounds absolutely crazy coming from me - I'm that person that thinks every kid should get a trophy, I don't like keeping score, and I LOVE to celebrate successes both big and small! But the quote kept coming back to me. 

First, let me be clear. I absolutely believe that positive reinforcement is so important. We SHOULD be handing out those trophies and celebrating our successes! However, it's also important to push ourselves to go further. How else will we know how good we really can be?

Regardless of your definition of greatness, unless you fail at achieving it repeatedly, you’ll never appreciate your accomplishments. Elite Daily

At every Central Penn College Open House, I would ask the audience to raise their hands if they believed they had POTENTIAL. And I wouldn't move on until every single hand was raised. Why? Because I wanted those students to know that we could see the greatness that was within them! Regardless of their class rank, their club involvement, or their GPAs, we knew they had the potential to be ROCK STARS at whatever goal they set for themselves.

Want to hear something AMAZING? 

WE ARE ALL ROCK STARS if challenge ourselves to be! You. Me. We all have that same untapped potential - the scope of which we can't even realize or imagine! 

I don't condone the methods of "encouragement" shown in the movie, but I do appreciate the message that we'll never reach our true potential if we allow ourselves to stop at "good job." Whiplash was just what I needed to remember my goals, my mantra, and my commitment to strive not just for status quo, but for greatness.

#whiplash #greatness #potential