LESSON
If You Want to Avoid Mediocrity, Follow These Steps Right Away
And start to make a difference.
“There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed.” — Ray Goforth.
Most people feel comfortable just having a juicy paycheck per week.
It‘s hard to aspire for something greater when your environment doesn't help. Everyone worries about being better with each other. But is that really what you want?. Certainly, it is a quick satisfaction that will not last long.
You see this everywhere, in our jobs or with friends; everyone wants to be better than the rest of their friends, and when you reach that, you feel unstoppable. The truth is your ego has guided you.
However, if you really want to avoid mediocrity in your entire life, you must be ready to pay the price. Some people are ok with the life they got, and that's fine if you are conscious of it.
But if you want to do more than just comparing yourself with your friends, coworkers, or family, you must be ready to trade things that are not easy but extremely worthy.
Most people are allergic to fail
“If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.”- Jim Rohn
I realized this with my own experience; I was scared to fail. I always found an excuse not to do something that I wanted.
- I was waiting for the perfect time.
- I didn't know enough to start.
- I didn't have enough money to do it.
- I thought it wasn't the best idea.
- I will wait a bit more and see.
To be honest all of them were just excuses to never start.
Why? Because I was extremely scared to fail.
When you are honest with yourself, deep inside, you know the truth just said. This will help you to be aware of that. There are many circumstances in life and the perfect time and process is an illusion.
Nobody is ready to fail because mostly everyone sees failure as something bad, as a crime. When the truth is, failure is the way to go to reach success.
If you avoid learning, you’re on the path to mediocrity
“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” –Harry S Truman
It is easy to be at home after a job and watch Netflix or going to the bar to grab a beer rather than read a book or learn a new skill.
The truth is that it is difficult to find people that really value the concept of learning every day. They are ok with the life they have. Everything is fine. They have a vacation once a year and a decent life.
They are not aware that learning every day can transform their lives and the lives of their loved ones.
“The real test is not whether you avoid this failure because you won’t. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.” — Barack Obama
If you can learn a small thing every day, you will have an amazing tomorrow every day.
Before becoming a winner start to act like one
“Some people say I have attitude — maybe I do… but I think you have to. You have to believe in yourself when no one else does — that makes you a winner right there.” — Venus Williams
This is something that took time to digest. The fact to act like the person you want to be was a bit hard to understand. But after reading and researching, I become a believer in this truth.
If you are mentalized and know who you want to be in the soon future, now is a perfect time to act like him.
Studies show us that the subconscious mind doesn't recognize if it is true or not. If you started to act like that person, your subconscious would believe you are. Hence it is going to be easy to keep that standard.
Your conscious mind commands, and your subconscious mind obeys. I never liked the mantra “Fake it until you make it.” But it is true. It works.
Focus on transforming yourself, not just in money and achievements
“When you change, and grow and get better, everything in your life will change and grow and get better.”― Clyde Lee Dennis
I certainly believe in this stage of my life that if you are looking for money and status, if you put those titles as your priority, you can get it. But you will never be fulfilled for it.
Studies find that tying your self-worth to financial success, hampers happiness and well-being. I hopefully believe people doublethink this. It is overrated unless money is a priority in your values.
Suppose you are looking for the experience of learning something new and to be a better version of yourself, you will reach that feeling of satisfaction.
I closed my eyes now, and I can say with total honesty that I never did something in my life with so much satisfaction than writing. I can make some money doing different jobs and whatever I did before has no comparison with the feeling that I have when I write.
At the same time, the idea of learning something new every day is astonishing. Sometimes I have no idea what to write about; then, I started to look for something that I want to learn. After that, I started to write easily.
Don’t take me wrong; money is essential in life; what I mean money is a result of the actions that you are taking while you keep growing.
Don't waste your time being jealous of others
“Jealousy is information. It tells you what you desire, what you admire, what you despise in yourself. You could learn from the person you envy if you weren’t blinded by resentment. Learning feels better than loathing.“ — The Stoic Emperor
In his book “Think and grow rich,” Napoleon Hill explains that it is not bad to admire people or things in life; we cannot wish for something when we don't know if that exists.
The problem is when you start to be jealous of that. The idea is to use that as an example and idea of the things you want to add to your life. Things you want to get in the future.
Only after that make a plan and work for it. Don’t waste your time being jealous of other people's achievements. You will never know how did they get them. Use examples as models of things you want to get in your own life, not against you.
“I think it’s important to get your surroundings as well as yourself into a positive state — meaning surround yourself with positive people, not the kind who are negative and jealous of everything you do.” — Heidi Klum
In Conclusion
It easy to set when you have a peaceful life at work and home. We don't like and refuse to put the bar higher. Why lose our tranquility to something else.
We subconciously or conciopusly say: if everything is good now, why I supposed to change my peaceful life?
The truth is you never know what can happen in the future; life changes pretty fast and without warning. Why not just try to be better day by day, stepping out of that peaceful comfort zone, where nothing grows there.
Just keep in mind and apply every day in your life these things to make a difference and avoid mediocrity.
- Be willing to fail.
- Be a constant learner.
- Start to act like the person you want to be.
- Instead, seeking money and titles, seek experiences and transformation of yourself.
- Instead of being jealous, focus, and work on yourself.
If you want more stories like this or different topics, let me know here!
Godofredo Rojas is a writer, chef, and constant learner from Peru. He studied in Le Cordon Bleu in Lima, Peru. He moved to New York in March 2011. You can find him on Facebook and Twitter.