My Friends, this is a knowledge I wish to share with you. I am an advocate of being exceptional in anything one does and I have been privileged to take this topic over 10 times in the last one year. I have also attached the presentation that could serve as a quick run-through of this mail.
Before I go into this, I would love to say: “The very things that make you feel afraid are the very doorways into your leadership best” – A leader Who Has No Title by Robin Sharma
As you read through, I would want you to clear your mind and let the message sink into you and help you become cautions of the most dangerous killer of careers, dreams and success in people’s life.
The Enemy of GOOD is GREAT. Greatness detest Good, because the comfort of being GOOD is what makes some of us not exceed our boundaries and get to the state of being exceptional.
Which takes us back to what Mediocrity is.
What is Mediocrity?
- Averageness: a quality that is adequate or acceptable, but not very good.
- Mediocre Person: somebody who lacks any special skill or flair
In these definitions, you can clearly see that there is a thin line between average and failure, people who always settle for less, or enjoy swimming in the pool of mediocrity usually do not get to become very successful. They are those guys that work 4 hours a day and tell themselves they have done their best; whilst watching a colleague in the same work space doing 7-8 hours averagely a day.
To become successful or attain mastery in your line of business/career; you have to consciously work/practice for a total of 10,000 hours – Outlier by Malcom Gladwell.
Talent is not enough to take us to Treasure Island. E.g. Look at Christano Ronaldo, Messi. Why don’t we hear some players whenever they are calling Messi & Ronaldo? Remember some of them came to lime light about the same period during their under 21 competition. Most of us thought Mikel will rival Messi for a long time.
Well, Talent was what brought them to lime light, gave them a face to the world, but only deliberate practice and effort in becoming the best and not staying in the state of mediocrity makes the likes of Messi & Ronaldo exceptional. It was said that C Ronaldo trains 3 extra hours after his team mates are done for the day. Where do you think does extra hours go to? They actually show in his performance on the field of play.
Now you know why you don’t hear from some musicians, while 2-Face Idibia lasted the test of time.
I discovered that this Mediocrity states lies in everyone’s live but if you do not consciously look into yourself and tell yourself the truth about your performance, most importantly know when you have started becoming a Mediocre, you will never know how much damage you have done to yourself in the past years.
There 4 major symptoms of Mediocrity
- Lack of Vision
- Compromise
- Indecision
- Past thinking
Because you are comfortable with where you are and not seeking to be exceptional, you will Lack Vision. For someone who is a mediocre easily Compromise in his daily key-activities. You are to deliver on 50 items a day, you’ve done 30 and you feel you have done well because you’ve exceeded average. Trust me, Lu says you are a Mediocre.
Mediocrity in one’s life is due to the fact you actually do not stretch your boundaries daily and you hardly work to test other hypothesis of your career and work.
Imagine Ade consciously works 8 hours a day and Seun works 4 hours daily, at the end of 1 year, Ade has worked 2,920 hours and Seun 1,460. Which means Ade must have stretched his mental, physical, experimental, and work ethics 1,460 hours more than Seun.
In the early days of their work together this might not be really measurable; but really after 1 year. Ade becomes exceptional, he takes on more responsibility, he gets to even work longer and delivers more than Seun, hence the promotion.
Seun might never realise the tides favouring Ade was coming from those extra hours of work that Ade has put into the job.
So What Happens to Seun after a while?
He becomes:
- Obsolete
- Irrelevant
- Not Skillful
- Lack Innovation / Creativity
- Psychologically Lazy
- Never Productive
Interestingly,
- Some Mediocre work hard, they just don’t exceed their boundaries. They get tired and assume that is the best they can do
- They don’t take risk, they rather do the same thing over and over gain
- They are always afraid of change and never willing to welcome it
Only the Mediocre are always at their best
3 things to keep in mind
- When you start, doesn’t it become easier?
Remember anytime you want to wash your cloths and you keep piling them up until you have nothing to wear again, you then decide to pick 5 shirts for that week. As soon as you start washing, you just realise the energy comes from nowhere and you keep adding more shirts and trouser till you wash all your cloths.
LESSION: Avoid procrastination and begin what you want to do now, so you can savour free time for tomorrow’s opportunity. - Difficult days never last, strong people always do
There will never be more 24 hours, no matter how hard or tough the day is, remember that the day will come and down. Stamp your feet and face the challenges of the day, so as to quickly learn what you have to and move on to another day. - The very things that make you feel afraid are the very doorways into your leadership best
Those things you have never done before that looks like opportunity will always scare you. But taking a calculated risk is the best decision you can ever make to become an exceptional person. Not doing anything because of the fear of the unknown is the true behavior of Mediocre. Always look at your options, take the best choice you can possibly make and take chances. This is what great Leaders and success guys do.
It is fine to be content, but never be satisfied, so improve everything. Improve it all, daily, relentlessly, and passionately. When you do, you will become exceptional
Being Exceptional, requires you:
- Never to set limitations
- Cut out all low-impact work, obsessively focus on high-impact ones
- Use every minute of your time doing ONLY those things that will get you nearer to where you want to go. DO FEWER BUT BETTER THINGS
- Keep Moving Forward
- Just keep making the smartest choices you can and taking as much action as humanly possible
- Persistence & Patience
- FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS
3 things success share
- Focus
- Always taking Action
- Stay Away from Mediocre
When I say stay away from Mediocre people, I mean cut them off totally, they eat into your time and help you step down your performances when they around you.
Finally I want you to remember that all good is hard. All evil is easy. Dying, losing, cheating, and mediocrity is easy. Stay away from easy.
Author: Lu Abikoye
luabikoye@gmail.com
