The Opposite of Remarkable is Very Good

 "The opposite of remarkable is very good." I  heard this the other day on the car radio.  This certainly caught my attention.  Although they may not be polar opposites they certainly are enemies at times.  Why?  Because, very good isn't  sticky.  You don't remember things that are just very good.  And, when we talk about performance, or life, settling for very good keeps you from getting to remarkable.  Very good becomes good enough and we don't push ourselves to find out what we are capable of.

The difference between very good and remarkable is that you can have one, but you have to make the other.  That requires work; it requires creativity and it makes us stretch beyond our comfort zones.  You can have a very good day or you can make a remarkable day.

Remarkable - worthy of note or attention; extraordinary

It's the unexpected greatness, or the extra whatever that makes it memorable.  Remarkable has stick power and greater gratification.  When you go out for a nice dinner if it is very good you will have an enjoyable evening.  If it is remarkable then you will tell people about it, you will recommend it,  you will visit the establishment again, and you will think of it often.  If you do a very good job at work you may be thanked for what you have accomplished, but when you do a remarkable job at work you will be addressed with extreme gratitude and looked at for future, possibly larger, projects.

To set out to do the remarkable takes thought.  It usually doesn't just happen, although, sometimes you may luck out. For anything to be extraordinary it must be deliberate. If you want a fantastic vacation then it must be planned.  If you want an incredible dinner party then it must be planned.  The "WOW" is always in the preparation.

Companies make sure that they are prepared by having a mission statement.  It communicates to their employees how the company wishes to be perceived.  It aids in their business decisions and helps them keep focused on their main initiative.

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. 

Here's Zappo's:  Our goal is to position Zappos as the online service leader. If we can get customers to associate the Zappos brand with the absolute best service, then we can expand into other product categories beyond shoes.

Having a mission and vision of your own can help you just as they help businesses.  A personal mission statement is an ambitious and inspirational definition of what you want to be or how you want to live.  It's like having a compass that guides you in the right direction.  You won't be surprised this far into the article to read that mine is:

to make a extraordinary life

I wrote my first mission statement while taking a Stephen Covey course.  It started by stating that I want to be successful in business and break through glass ceilings, be a super spouse, parent and friend, and ended with having life balance.  Three long paragraphs that I could never remember later it all boiled down to making (doing the hard work) an extraordinary life.  If I remember that my goal is to expect greatness then I will be successful in business and relationships and everything else.

Hopefully, my example makes it easy for you to come up with yours.  Don't wait!  You don't want to miss out on something because you forgot to set your compass.