Why relying on low-hanging fruit will make you starve.
I used to think the goal of life was to get by and coast off the easy victories, enjoying low-hanging fruit and basking in the sunset.
After all, I was sold this dream by the rich guys I saw on television and the get-rich-quick scammers later. It wasn’t until the gut check that life gives you in the form of failures that made me realized many of these guys were bullsh*tters.
Many people won’t tell you what goes on behind the scenes — it’s a way to hide what they do and make success seem easy.
You often hear overnight success stories where people came out of nowhere — but you don’t hear about the time spent developing their skills. The constant rejection and self-doubt; the constant grind that sometimes works in reverse, grinding you to a pulp.
Malcolm Gladwell calls the “grind” the 10,000-hour rule. According to Gladwell: it takes 10,000 hours of intensive practice to achieve mastery of complex skills — anything less is not good enough.
To become a master at any skill, it takes the total effort of your: heart, mind, and soul working together in tandem — so good enough doesn’t count.
“Good enough” is a mindset that plagues individuals at work and home in different aspects of life — aiming lower than our potential leaves a lot on thetable.
In the construction industry, when it comes to safety, aiming lower than expected can lead to severe injuries. I am not just saying that; I witnessed it firsthand.
In other areas, the “good enough” mindset can be limiting and detrimental to personal and professional growth. It involves accepting mediocrity and settling for a basic level of performance rather than striving for excellence — pretty much always going after the low-hanging fruit.
This mindset can lead to complacency, a lack of motivation, missed opportunities, and stagnation. So it is vital to realize the limitations of a “good enough” mentality and strive for continuous improvement in the most critical aspects of life.
The “Good Enough” mindset can be problematic for several reasons:
One reason is mediocrity.
By aiming for “good enough,” you only settle for mediocrity and never reach your full potential, which hinders personal growth.
Sarah, an aspiring artist, has a natural talent for drawing and painting but always told herself that she was “good enough,” so she never pushed herself to improve her skills. As a result, Sarah’s paintings were just okay and never received significant recognition.
One day, Sarah met a successful artist who told her the importance of constantly striving for excellence and never settling for “good enough.” The artist explained that true success and fulfillment came from pushing herself to her limits and continuously improving her skills.
Sarah took this advice to heart and challenged herself in new ways. She took art classes, practiced daily, and sought new inspiration and techniques.
Over time, her skills improved dramatically, and she received recognition for her work. She sold her paintings for high prices and became known as one of the best artists in the city.
In the end, Sarah learned that the “good enough” mindset was ineffective. She had been limiting her potential by settling for mediocrity and not pushing herself to improve. Instead, by striving for excellence and constantly seeking growth, she achieved great success and fulfillment in her life.
How many of us are just like Sarah?
Another reason is a lack of motivation:
The “good enough” mentality can lead to a lack of motivation and drive. If people are satisfied with just reaching a basic level of performance, they may not feel they need to put in the extra effort required to achieve greatness and become lazy.
The Lazy maintenance guy
I once worked with a lazy pipefitter on a night-shift maintenance job. This guy would only do the very basic — which to him was too much. He was always the last to arrive and the first to leave. Finally, the crew started to have enough; no one wanted to work with him.
One day the foreman instructed him to rinse the shop floor with a hose; for a skilled tradesman, this was an insulting job, but the foreman didn’t trust him with anything else. However, this guy seemed pleased as it was easy enough.
Come time to do the job, the rest of the crew and I were taking apart an exchanger, which was an all-day job; meanwhile, washing the floors took one hour at most.
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The end of the night was approaching, but we finished a few hours early; when we got to the shop, the lazy guy was getting the hose unreeled — he barely even started.
The foreman got wind of this, and it looked like his head would blow up as red as his face turned. It took everything for him not to chew the lazy guy out, but he held his composure and dismissed him for the rest of the night. Not surprisingly, the lazy worker got fired two days later.
When asked why did he piss away such an easy job that paid him six figures, he said he wasn’t motivated to work anymore. Later, he regretted the move as he didn’t have it so well as his reputation and work ethic followed him.
Another reason is Missed opportunities:
When people adopt a “good enough” mindset, they may miss opportunities to learn, grow, and generate potential business.
A great example is when Nike fumbled a sneaker deal by losing NBA great Stephen Curry to Under Armor.
The pitch meeting started with one Nike official accidentally addressing Stephen as “Steph-on” and neglecting to correct himself.
A PowerPoint slide also featured [Oklahoma City Thunder forward at the time] Kevin Durant’s name, presumably left on by accident, probably residue from repurposed materials.
Nike had one of the best players in the league and a future hall of famer ready to make a deal, and due to their complacency — lost it.
Those reps thought what they had was good enough and lost the client — Stephen Curry — can you imagine that?
Lastly Stagnation:
A “good enough” mindset can stagnate personal and professional development.
People must constantly strive to improve and reach new levels of excellence to stay caught up with opportunities for advancement.
I became stagnant on one of the projects I was working on a few years ago. We were working in situ recovery, and the job was going well; we got paid excellently, the work was easy, and we were told not to rush.
After months this behavior became routine, and I had an opportunity to go to another project, but I declined as I figured I should stay put. The only issue was the other project offered some skills I wanted to learn, and I missed out as my easy project ended prematurely.
The purpose of my trade was to gain mastery, and I went against my goal, which slowed me down with a few other opportunities — lesson learned.
Overall, the “good enough” mindset can lead to complacency and a lack of motivation to achieve one’s full potential. So do your very best not to rest on your laurels.
While it may be tempting to settle for mediocrity, striving for excellence and continuously pushing oneself to reach new heights is essential. The more you seek to improve, the more you can become unstoppable.
Here are some books that can help you master yourself and your craft:
These books can provide valuable insights and practical strategies for mastering your craft, reaching your full potential, and helping you avoid the allure of the low-hanging fruit.
All the best
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