This past weekend I met with a good friend at where else…? Starbucks. We chatted for a bit about our families, the economy, weather, and as usual: golf.

As we’re getting ready to leave, and like countless times before, he says, “You know we really need to get together and play golf one day.” And like countless times before I ask him to pick a day, for which he responds, “Oh… well… if we were to play you’d probably have to give me like 500 strokes! Let me take some lessons first and maybe next time. Besides my clubs are still in the attic. But hey, I can hit 300-yard drives on my kid’s Tiger Woods Playstation game!”

Sorry. That doesn’t count. Hitting a ball 300-yards on a video game is not really hitting a ball 300-yards… is it? I mean, there’s no ball, no club, and you use your thumbs for crying out loud! We’ll never play together. For two years I’ve heard about his clubs in the attic…about giving him 500 strokes… about taking lessons first.

And it finally dawned on me; it’s much safer for him to talk about golf and beat Tiger Woods on Playstation than it is to actually put forth the effort and play real golf on a real golf course. As a result, living in “Pretend World” robs him the opportunity of playing in the real world. He settles for an AVERAGE experience, when he could be enjoying a WOW! experience. Playing abilities aside.

In life, many of us fall into average complacency. We become armchair quarterbacks shouting at the TV. We settle for the 17” monitor, 300-yard drives on our Tiger Woods video game system where virtual crowds applaud us. And we’ll wait in line outside Best Buy before Christmas in hopes of getting selected to give them money for a much coveted Wii console so we can get Wii-Fit in the privacy of our own 10’ X 12’ cell… I mean room.

Some people say it’s okay to aim for average. They even encourage it. “The higher you aim the further you fall,” they advise. I don’t buy it. If I had a life-threatening ailment, I wouldn’t take a chance on an average doctor to treat me. If I was being falsely sued and taken to court, I wouldn’t hire an average attorney to represent me. If I was told that a pilot with average flying abilities was flying the plane, I wouldn't risk my family's safety on "average flying abilities" by having them get on board.

Here, I have one for you: If you were a recruiter, would you ask your administrative assistant to give you only the AVERAGE resumes that were received for the job you posted? Seriously, would you? By the way, how is your resume?