Don’t settle on your greatest works—never substitute the greater things you can achieve with the great things you’ve already achieved

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Do you know people who have settled on their latest or greatest works or achievement? Have you also settled? Settled in your job? Settled in your research? Settled in your education? You are generally okay with everything instead of fighting for more.

In many areas of life, settling is not a good! It’s even worse to settle for average or less, instead of always fighting for more. “Fighting for more” is what keeps great people inspired and going until their time is up, and they leave the Earth.

After a lifetime of great and distinguished achievements, at the age of 85 years Pablo Casals continued to rise up early every morning and spend most of the day practicing his cello.

When asked during an interview on why he consistently practiced playing cello for five hours per day, he replied: “Because I think I’m getting better”.

This great cellist, who is worth emulating, and made millions of people happy with his live performances, will always have a place in history.

One thing that great minds and souls always remember is that what they are yet to achieve is greater than what they’ve already achieved. Great minds never settle on their greatest works!

The mentality that makes people believe they have achieved the greatest or reached an age of retirement, has trapped the untapped potential buried in millions of uniquely talented, gifted, and valuable individuals.

The concept of retirement, which is practiced a lot in the Western world, has made many men and women follow socially accepted standards of success and settle for less, instead of consistently fighting for more.

Always remember that all the individuals who have ever left great footprints in history were driven by a passion greater than the desire for permanent comfort and retirement.

Pablo Casals reminds us of the Thomas Edison, Isaac Newton, and several others who all saw the fruits their faith and works continuously unfolding as the years of their lives unfolded and passed by.

The mentality to always fight for more, rather than retire, has always occupied the minds of people who were/are consistently great

Just to cite a very good example: Saint Paul, while spending the last days of his life in prison, refused to retire even though he was surrounded by imprisonment, environmental restrictions, and threats.

Instead of retiring and settling for less, he spent his remaining days fighting for more by writing beautiful, life-changing literature that constitute almost three-quarters of the New Testament, has formed the basis of most of the Christian Church doctrines of today and stood the test of time.

Like Pablo Casals, Saint Paul, Thomas Edison and Isaac Newton—amongst many others—believed that no matter what they had accomplished, experienced or achieved in the past, there was always much more left to be done, developed and expressed. They always lived their lives as if “better” is better than the “best”, and the so-called extra-ordinary things are just plain ordinary.

Conclusion/Advice—always fight for more

If you don’t fight for more, you could be denying yourself the opportunity to experience life the way it is meant to be: full of freedom, happiness, fulfilment, etc. Keep it in mind that you may be settling for less if you are not experiencing any of these.

But first, do you know that you were created for more? Could it be that your inactivity or passiveness in spirit and body is the major thing that’s been holding you back? Do you know inactiveness is not important? Do you know it is unnecessary?

In your battle to fight for more, be consistently encouraged and inspired by the following thoughts:

  • You have a lot of unlimited potential. Do not belittle yourself by settling for less, instead of fighting for more.
  • There is always an opportunity to be better (or move up higher) if you don’t settle on the greatest works you’ve ever achieved.
  • Never ever forget how special you are; the potential impact of your inner life is much greater than you could ever imagine.
  • Once you start settling for less—instead of fighting for more—you will likely settle for less over and over again.
  • The path of least resistance/stress might not always be the right one for you: choosing which way to go might be difficult, but don’t always follow the easiest path.
  • You don’t need to seek the difficult path; you just need to face it whenever it faces you.
  • Accept, and learn to love yourself; in so doing, it will be easier to overcome many obstacles along the path to greater works.
  • If you have a dream, don’t let anything stop you until you achieve it. You deserve to be the best.
  • In order to conserve more of your inner strength when fighting for more, stop concentrating on things that won’t help you fulfil your dreams. Don’t waste time on things that are not very important in life.
  • You can accomplish much more if you just know how to fight for more, and actually go ahead to fight for it.
  • In terms of ambition—unlike love—don’t stop searching once you meet the best. Whenever you meet the best, then just start searching for something better in a different direction.
  • Most times, when you try your best to achieve something greater, you will likely have to sacrifice something in return.

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