Excelling at Underachieving

"We're Michigan. We don't play to everyone else's level and for the last two weeks we have. But we're going to step it up," defensive end Frank Clark said. One of the most storied programs in college football, the University of Michigan struggled for a second straight week in a row and barely defeated a far inferior team, the University of Connecticut (the week before they barely edged out Akron).

When I read this quote on Sunday it got me thinking about how most people actually live their lives this way - playing down to their competition or environment. The truth is, most people play down to their environment. We tend to achieve just enough to get by, so if the bar is really low, then we typically do just enough to get over that low bar.

The problem is that most people spend their lives completely underachieving because they are surrounded by mediocrity, on a good day. Most people complain about their jobs, can't wait until Friday rolls around to start the weekend, aren't living out their passions, and somehow they feel just good enough about themselves and their situation that they never make a change. Barely surviving another week existing in a sub-par environment somehow makes us feel just good enough to prevent us from pursuing something greater, something impactful, something risky, something excellent.

Even though Akron and UConn lost their games against Michigan (and I'm sure they were massively disappointed), the confidence that they can compete with the a top team will carry forward with them for the rest of the season. Competing against one of the top teams in the country and losing a close game was way more valuable to them than scheduling and beating some lower tier mediocre team just to get a win.

So sometimes it isn't just about winning. In fact, most of the time it isn't about winning. It's about putting ourselves out there to try something bigger, something riskier, something we feel called to....something that requires that we move out of our comfortable mediocre environment and stretch ourselves. If we are going to attempt to reach the full potential that God has called each of us to, then we will need to move towards environments and people that raise the bar for us and challenge us to new heights!