“Don’t be afraid to give up the good for the great.” John D Rockefeller
One of the greatest threats is success. Becoming a good business (or parent, creator, contributor, etc.) is dangerous because at a certain level a satisfaction creeps in and protectionism and conservation become the focus instead of continued improvement and growth.
The Good is the Enemy of the Great.
We become comfortable at a certain level, especially if it is well above where we initially thought we could be. My friend is a senior director with a major tech firm and is “good” at that level, no longer wanting to stretch herself and achieve her full potential that is in the C Suite. But the risks and investments needed to achieve this frighten her too much, understandably. And so she has set her sights lower than the mountaintop she could easily climb to the pinnacle.
Comfort is where dreams go to die. Don’t become too comfortable too early, because greatness takes becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable to summit that mountain.