On a road trip a few years back, I had the opportunity to see a college teammate of mine. My teammate is an accomplished athlete in his own right. He’s been and member of numerous world championship teams for starters. He also was the first person from his country to medal at the World Championships in Athletics. Not a bad athlete to say the least.

I recall one of the stories that our jumps coach used to tell us about him. He told our coach that he only had two objectives that year; graduating at the top of his class and jumping far enough to win the NCAA Championships. Our coach asked why he only had two objectives. His response was perfect. He said, “Coach, everyone I know that has more than two objectives isn’t good at the top two on the list. They end up being mediocre at all their priorities”.

As I look back on that story I see there is so much truth in it. After years in the business world, I’ve seen the wisdom in my teammate’s comments over and over. We tend to bite off too much and think we are superhuman. As a result, we end up delivering mediocre results due to our diluted efforts. So, when you are tempted to take on a “priority” step back, and ask yourself if it will hinder your ability to be great. If so, you may want to rethink taking on that extra priority.