Get All Access for $5/mo

Do You Want to Be Good or Great? How much we achieve begins with what we set out to do.

By Grant Cardone Edited by Dan Bova

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Photography by Emma Sutcliffe | Getty Images

Do you want to be more motivated in life? Quit settling for good. All of us have the potential for greatness. Every day I strive for how can I be greater. How can I be great, not good? How can I have a great marriage, not a good marriage? How can I be a great dad, not just a good one?

What do you end up with when you're going for good? You get something less than good or maybe good. Everybody knows nothing happens with just good. Nobody reports on good. They report on great. If you're going to have a marriage and you're going to be married to the same person for what 30, 40, 50 years, do you want a good marriage or a great marriage? It's all up to you.

Related: 8 Reasons Married Entrepreneurs Are More Likely to Succeed

What's your target, good or great? Look, don't settle for good when you can be great. Just make a decision. It doesn't mean you're going to succeed today. It doesn't even mean you're going to be good at it today. But go for great every day. You've got to keep that in front of your face. If you think good is your target, you might end up with less than good. If you think great is the target, good you will attain.

Think about it in sales -- do you want good sales or great sales? There is a big difference between the good salesperson and the great salesperson. There's also a difference between a good closer and a great closer. What is the difference?

Commitment.

To be great at anything you must devote yourself completely. If you are a business owner you need to devote yourself, your energy and your resources to that business. Commit: to pledge or bind (a person or an organization) to a certain course. But how does one commit 100 percent? The first step I take is to eliminate any and all other options and devote myself completely to learning everything I can about the topic.

Related: What Bad Managers, Good Managers and Great Managers Do

You need to be a fanatic. I discontinue looking at other options. Don't be the guy who keeps looking to the neighbor's lawn to see how the grass is greener "over there." That's the same person who never commits to taking care of the lawn he already has. He just ends up mediocre and miserable.

Lawns are green because somebody committed to them. Committing is when you make a firm decision. I would rather commit to the wrong thing all the way than commit to the right thing halfway. Commit and be done with it! Whenever I commit fully to any line of action I get immediate results. When I'm not committed 100 percent I find that results are delayed or non-existent.

Great athletes know there is a difference between good and great. Muhammad Ali said he was the greatest. A good quarterback may make the NFL, but it takes a great quarterback to win five Super Bowls like Tom Brady. Michael Jordan was great, Beethoven was great, and Muhammad Ali was great. The difference between good and great is a different level of commitment. The greats train like fanatics.

Related: Muhammad Ali's Greatest Quotes of All Time

Having been in sales and business for over 30 years, I know the difference between good and great and I want to help you become great. I've codified it all in my Playbook to Millions.

Be great.

Grant Cardone

International Sales Expert & $1.78B Real Estate Fund Manager

Grant Cardone is an internationally-renowned speaker on sales, leadership, real-estate investing, entrepreneurship and finance whose five privately held companies have annual revenues exceeding $300 million.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Side Hustle

This Former Starbucks Employee Started a Side Hustle That's Making More Than $70,000 a Month — and He's Not Done Yet

When Tom Saar moved to New York City, he spotted a lucrative business opportunity.

Business News

Is One Company to Blame for Soaring Rental Prices in the U.S.?

The FBI recently raided a major corporate landlord while investigating a rent price-fixing scheme. Here's what we know.

Business News

Amazon Has a Blank Book Problem: Buyers Report Receiving Fakes of Bestselling UFO Book

The book looked fine on the outside, but the inside was out-of-this-world.

Business News

Paramount Leadership Alludes to Layoffs If Merger Does Not Go Through

Paramount is awaiting approval on its merger with Skydance Media from majority shareholder Shari Redstone.

Business News

Microsoft Reportedly Lays Off Over 1,500 Employees in Cloud Sector as Partnership with OpenAI Strengthens

Alphabet also reportedly laid off employees from several teams in Google's cloud unit last week.

Marketing

6 SEO Tips to Help You Rank in the New Era of Quality Content

What is the best SEO strategy after Google's March 2024 core update? Here's what you need to know.