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The other day I gave my mom a lift to Target because she needed to re-stock those fancy little bathroom soaps that are supposed to be for “decorative purposes” only but my father ends up using anyway (”I like the smell”, is what he’d say when caught soapy handed ^_^)

Noticing the job kiosk unoccupied I decided to fill out a computer application to pass the time, after filling out the first section that asked for name, contact info, education, etc.; I was bought to the second section that asked you a series of questions designed to take a snapshot of your personality.  Going through them I came across one in particular that has interested me:

“Are you satisfied with your life?”

It grabbed my attention because it was an unusual question to ask, especially in a job application.  But it certainly makes for interesting blog fodder I thought.

Why Satisfaction Can Be Bad For You

We all have goals that we want to achieve, we strive to get to the top of our own personal mountains.  You persevere and make sacrifices, and as a result you continue to grow and improve.  Eventually you get to the summit - Great! But now what?  You’ll tend to rest on your laurels, enjoy the fruits of your labor and admire that which you have achieved.  It’s a natural reaction that’s for sure, albeit the wrong one. 

Why?

With satisfaction comes stagnation, with stagnation comes complacency, and when you become complacent you tend to miss out on potential opportunities my friend. 

Take Hollywood for example:

Young star breaks into show business, does some small films, gets some favorable reviews, and gets more work.  Eventually wins some awards and becomes an A-list actor.  Star enjoys new found celebrity, declines new projects and takes time off to go on vacations, (maybe adopts a kid or two) runs out of work, fades into obscurity. 

Or the musician that has a hit single, buys a European castle and has it shipped brick by brick and rebuilt in the mid-west, buys a couple of solid gold rocket cars and races them around.  He lets his fame and money go to his head, all the while another act gains notoriety and becomes the hot new ticket in town.  As for the “one-hit wonder?”  He sells his castle, sells his gold plated rocket cars, has a sex-tape of theirs “leaked” and forms their own reality TV-show.

What To Do Instead

So dear reader, instead of resting on your laurels when you’ve arrived at the top, acknowledge that you’ve done a good job, appreciate it, but do not dwell on it.  Realize that there is room for improvement (isn’t there always :) and see how you can build upon your success.  We are only on this earth for a limited amount of time, don’t we owe it to ourselves and others to make the most of it?

So in the event that you find yourself waiting in Target and happen to fill out the electronic job application to pass the time (or not), when you get to that question - what would your answer be?

As always, thanks for reading.