I want to do something big in my life.  I want to take all of my bottled energy and use it for something amazing, something excellent, something worthy of praise by not only the best on earth, but the only One outside of it.

But it’s easy to doubt.  It’s easy to roll down the path you think you want to pursue, only to find thousands of others trying to do the same thing — or already doing the same thing, but better than you think you ever could.

We don’t live in a bubble.  And thank God we don’t — competition, in every form, refines, hones, sharpens, strenghens and improves us.  It’s nothing to be feared, but something to be embraced. 

While some see competition as a constraint — as something that limits possibilities — I see it as opportunity.  I see competition as an opportunity to perform better, work faster, produce something more refined or build something entirely new and unusual. 

The unfortunate side effect of competition is that, in the short-term, it drains one’s energy, and has a nasty aftertaste of discouragement and uncertainty. 

For example, I always get butterflies when I find someone doing something better than me.  I think — why even try? It’s already being done better, faster, more efficiently.  But then my head kicks in.  My heart starts pumping.  And I realize that I can do whatever I want. 

Yes, whatever I want.

My message: don’t place arbitrary limits on your goals.  When so-called life coaches tell you to “think big,” well, they really mean it.  Just because it’s been done, don’t hang up the phone. 

Once you get out into the world, there’s no one telling you what to do or how to do it.  There’s no one really handcuffing you to the ground, preventing you from grasping that which is within your reach.

Sam Walton.
Ray Charles.
Steve Jobs / Wozniak.
William Penn.
Michael Dell.
Oprah Winfrey.

Take Nike’s advice: just do it.