Once upon a time, many years ago, I heard from a friend a phrase that for a long time became almost the motto of my life. “Dima,” he said, “it’s better to have 1% of a billion dollars than 1000% of a hundred rubles.” Agree, it sounds more than plausible. Undeniable. And it seems to me that only a person who has absolutely no idea about arithmetic can doubt this statement. Simple calculations show that the first amount will be approximately 300 thousand times greater than the second. Although in percentage terms the picture was absolutely the opposite. But if everything in it is so obvious, then, one wonders, what did my friend want to say with this phrase? And with a similar metaphor, he tried to convince me that it is better to initially set grandiose goals (even impossible ones) ) and strive for their implementation, rather than repeatedly exceeding ordinary and banal plans throughout life. Like, even if you achieve only 1% of the “impossible”, it will still be cool. And more than if you don’t set such ambitious goals. In general, he convinced me of this. All the years that have passed since the metaphor was voiced, I, without even really remembering it, tried to set plans that were, if not, thousands of times higher than mine real possibilities, then at least 20 percent more (of course, according to my own feelings). I never (or almost never) aspired to something really feasible. I needed something really exciting. I constantly wanted to challenge the impossible. And live at least 120%. You may ask, has this helped me in my life? Was I able to achieve many times more than if I relied solely on reality? Alas, I do not know this, and I cannot know. Because there is no way to compare. I have achieved what I have achieved. And what he could achieve, I can only guess. But what I know for sure is that all these years I lived dissatisfied with my achievements. Look what happens: If you take my real capabilities as a whole (100%), then if I set a goal of 120% of the maximum possible, then this is 20% more than I can realistically achieve (Obvious things, but let's continue). Let's say this motivates me. But if this is more than I can actually do, then the maximum I can achieve is only 83% of the task (and the more ambitious the plans, the smaller the percentage of what is actually achievable will be). As a result of such planning, I never live to the fullest. . Although this seems strange. After all: Trying to live at 120% of what is actually achievable, I live at 83.3% of what was planned! Do you understand? Always a little less than we would like. People are different. And this fact will not bother anyone at all. In the end, percentages are percentages, but numerical values ​​are somewhat different. In addition, this approach to planning can fill a person with a sense of self-worth, of belonging to something larger than himself. Pride and inspiration. And perhaps even give him the meaning of his own life. But now I’m not talking about other people, but about myself. After many years, I can say that I feel like I missed something important in my life - a feeling of fullness and completion. The satisfaction of knowing your own boundaries. And the joy of life is 100% your own. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against global and large-scale thinking, which the authors of books about achieving success so often write about. Big and very audacious goals can indeed be very useful both for the person himself and for the people around him. First of all, for the reasons I mentioned above. Plus, there are noble goals, but achievable in at least several generations. However, if you put only them in your life, trying to live at 120% all the time, then it is very likely that you will never know the feeling of completion and satisfaction. After all, it seems to me that satisfaction comes only from achieving the intended goal. And if it is initially unattainable, then the desire for it will keep you chronically