Good Feels Like Enough… Until It Isn’t

There’s a clip from Will Smith that’s been stuck in my head since I heard it. He was talking about the difference between being good and being great. And he said something that completely shifted my perspective:

“The great thing about being 90% done is... at least you know you’re halfway there.”

Let that sink in. We hear 90% and think we’re basically finished. But what if that last 10% — the part most people skip — is the part that changes everything?

That line resonated with me because I’ve seen this play out over and over — with my peers, the entrepreneurs I coach, and even in myself. We confuse being talented with being exceptional. We confuse momentum with mastery. We think we're doing enough because we’re doing better than the people around us.

But we’re not chasing them. We’re chasing what we're capable of.

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Good Feels Like Enough… Until It Isn’t

In high school, there was this saying: “You’re Girard good.” It meant you were great—within these walls. But outside of this environment? You’d learn quickly that your “greatness” had a ceiling. That there were levels beyond what you thought was possible. And once you step into a bigger room, you realize how many people are operating far beyond what you believed was elite.

That’s the trap: being the big fish in a small pond. You stop pushing because everyone around you is looking up at you. You start believing the hype. You ease off the gas because what comes naturally to you is hard for others, so you stop refining. You stop getting sharper. You stop showing up with the same urgency. And slowly, quietly, you plateau — all while thinking you’re at your peak.

I remember when I first started making money in my business. At $5K a month, I was proud. At $10K a month, I was confident. At $100K a month, I thought I was doing something major. But then I got around people doing $100K a day. I heard people talk about making $1M in a weekend. And suddenly, my definition of success changed. My standard changed. My idea of what was “great” got recalibrated in a single conversation.

That’s when I realized something that most people never do: the gap between where you are and where you want to be isn’t filled with talent. It’s filled with discipline. Consistency. Reps. That last 10% is what you eat, how you think, who you surround yourself with, and how relentlessly you show up. You can’t fake it. You can’t shortcut it. You can’t casually become elite.

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Good Gets You a Pat on the Back. Great Changes Your Life.

Will Smith made another point that stuck with me. His son once told him, “If I wanted to, I could get A’s.” And Will responded, “No, you can’t. Because the difference between going from a C to a B, and a B to an A — that’s not the same thing.”

Because going from a C to a B just means you tried.
But going from a B to an A? That’s a transformation.

You have to:

• Eat differently
• Think differently
• Show up differently
• Change your circle
• Develop discipline

That shift from B to A requires transformation. Not more effort, but a different kind of effort. A different mentality. Most of us never make that shift, because we’re getting by just fine where we are. We’re getting recognition. We’re getting a little money. We’re feeling accomplished. But we’re still operating below our ceiling — and deep down, we know it.

You probably know someone like this. Talented. Gifted. Everyone sees their potential. But they’re stuck. They’re underperforming. And the truth is, talent without work ethic becomes dead weight. At some point, talent turns into an excuse. You start believing you don’t need to go harder because you’re already ahead of the average. And that’s exactly how people stay stuck.

Even the best in the world don’t skip the fundamentals. LeBron still goes to practice. Michael Jordan didn’t stop training because he was Jordan. They worked harder than everyone else because they were gifted — not in spite of it.

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Final Thoughts

So let me ask you:

Are you confusing being good with being great?

Are you surrounding yourself with people who challenge your ceiling, or people who make you feel comfortable with your current level?

Are you operating at 90% and calling it complete?

And wouldn’t you like to find out what happens if you actually gave it everything?

I know this message isn’t for everybody. But if it’s speaking to you — if you feel called out, not just seen — then maybe it is. Maybe you’ve been sitting on a version of yourself that the world hasn’t even seen yet. Not because you aren’t capable, but because you’ve settled.

I don’t create these to be liked. I create them because someone needs to hear it — unfiltered, unapologetic, and real. You don’t have to agree with everything I say. But if something hit? Sit with it. Reflect on it. Then move on it.

Because greatness doesn’t show up for the talented.
It shows up for the committed.

Catch you next week,
—Abu

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