Under/over estimating our potential

Seth Godin is always worth reading. Pithy is the word that comes to mind when I read posts such as this:

Exploration and the risk of failure

People seem to be in one of two categories:

• Those who seek stability, affiliation, work worth doing and the assurance it (whatever it is) will be okay.
• Those who explore, need to know that failure is an option and quest to make a dent in the universe.

You can be in either category, the world needs and rewards both. But pick a brand and a job and a posture that matches your category, or you'll fail, and be miserable until you do.
Hint: there is no category of: "does risky exploration, never fails."

This has important implications for the progress and success we can attain.  In a lousy economy, we might as well be doing work we have a passion for and that feeds our psyche.  

It reminds me of a very useful adage.

We tend to over-estimate what we can accomplish in a year (think about your New Year's Resolutions), and under-estimate what we can accomplish in five years.

If we are not in the right category as Seth outlines above our five year track record will fall way short of our full potential.  Think about where you want to be in five years...it is not that far away!