Do you want to become someone excellent? If so, can you live by this philosophy?
This is an original quote
To the best of my knowledge I came up with this quote on my own. I even did a google search and didn’t find any quotes of anyone saying this. There are similar things, but that’s besides the point.
I thought long and hard about what I wanted out of life. I listed it all out. To summarize all the things I came up with I created this quote. My life’s motto. My creed. An affirmation I constantly tell myself. I refuse to settle for a life lived in mediocrity.
What this means
This quote seems pretty self-explanatory, but I’ll give some background and share my thinking.
Have you ever just sat and thought about the relevance of our own lives in the grand scheme of things? We are smaller than ants compared to the size of the universe. Past that our lives are such a minuscule amount of time compared to how long the universe has been around. No matter how old you think the universe is. There are people before and there will be people after us. What makes our life have meaning? How will we matter in the grand scheme of things?
I look around and I see people settling for lives lived in mediocrity. It’s the norm. People go to work, they come home, watch tv, drink some beer, complain about their life, reminisce about old times and repeat this every single day.
Their boring, unsubstantial lives on repeat. Accomplishing nothing. Doing nothing. At the very least, are they even happy? Chances are, they aren’t.
To me this is the saddest realization there is.
I don’t know about you, but I want more. I need more. I will be more!
I will find meaning, I will make a difference, I will do every single thing, every menial task that comes my way to the best of my ability.
There’s nothing more depressing than someone who has given up in life. Someone who puts in no effort and settles for what life gives them instead of standing up, head held high and doing something about their life.
I’ve noticed some commonalities between people who settle for a life lived in mediocrity.
Characteristics of mediocrity
People who settle for less and live their lives in mediocrity:
- Are lazy
- Give up
- Do not learn new things
- Feel hopeless
- Don’t read
- Do the bare minimum
- Complain
- Are dishonest
- Do not always do the right thing
- Get angry or emotional easily
- Do not exercise
- Are closed minded
- Blame others
- Are jaded
- Care too much about trivial things and not enough about the things that matter
- Don’t recognize or learn from their mistakes
- Are selfish
- Will not help others if it does not benefit them
- Spend too much time on entertainment such as tv or video games
- Do drugs or alcohol
- Will not go the extra mile
- Do not push past their barriers or enter uncomfortable areas
- Spend all of their money
- Do not think ahead
- Do not do everything to the best of their ability
- Do not strive for excellence
Whew okay that list is a bit long and depressing. Now I will go over the the things that the extraordinary people do. The people who refuse to settle for mediocrity and take charge of their lives.
Characteristics of the excellent
People who are above and beyond the ordinary and refuse to settle for mediocrity:
- Never stop learning
- Read
- Exercise
- Do tons of self-care exercises
- Are constantly improving themselves
- Self-advocate
- Fight to change their position in life
- Have a strong social support system
- Are persistent
- Do not give up just because things get tough
- Self-assess
- Learn from their mistakes
- Help others
- Are constantly expanding their social network and meeting new people
- Eat healthy
- Are generally nice to people
- Are generally generous
- Often are frugal and live below their means
- Use deliberate-practice
- Surround themselves with people more successful than themselves
- Have good sleep schedules
- Do not play the victim
- Are accountable
- Are honest
- Are responsible
- Have an inner desire to succeed and want more in life
- Go after what they want
- Use their time wisely
- Are good at talking to people and negotiating
- Don’t fret the little things
- Are excellent
Which group are you in?
If you find yourself falling into the wrong group of these two, do not fret. You can always change these qualities about yourself and move from one group to the other.
There’s heard a great quote that relates to this. In the show Black Clover they said, “Being weak is nothing to be ashamed of, staying weak is”.
I will adapt this for our purposes in saying; There is no shame in being mediocre, the shame lies in staying mediocre.
It’s up to you. Do you wish to stay mediocre? To just get by in life? Or do you want to rise up and become someone excellent?
No matter where you came from I believe that inside everyone is the potential for excellence. No matter your race, sexuality, sex, physical characteristics, religion, birthplace, socio-economic status, or anything else. You have the ability to become someone truly excellent and take your life in whatever direction you choose.
Every waking second is a new second, a new start, a new chance at being excellent. Start today. Make small changes and embody the qualities of someone who is excellent. Over time it will make all the difference. Even if you don’t notice a change in yourself immediately I guarantee someone else will, and for that we thank you.
“Never fail at something due to a lack of effort, because effort takes no talent.” – Sam Dogan from Financial Samurai
How to escape mediocrity and become excellent
This is a big topic. I could write a whole book about this subject. In fact, I think I will. Or at least an ebook to start. I’ll probably even be giving it away for free to my readers. But, that’s all in the future.
Beyond that. You could say this whole blog and website is about the pursuit of excellence. And I am not going to try and explain everything in this post. But, what you can do to start is make sure you subscribe to my site, do the monthly challenges, and read any of my upcoming articles on the topic of excellence.
To start I would highly recommend that you read daily. There is so much good information in books, both from successful people that came before us and by people living in our times. There’s a wealth of knowledge and you should be taking advantage of it.
Next, you should keep a journal. In it you can write down how your day went, keep reminders for yourself, schedule what you want to spend your time on each day, write down to do lists and goals for each week or month, write down what you’re grateful for, record what you did each day, write down things you learn, and reflect on your successes and failures. Doing this will be therapeutic, help you manage your time, and let you analyze and learn from your life experiences.
Lastly, do something each day to improve yourself. This could be taking a walk, learning something new, practicing a skill, or even just reading a book for 15 minutes on your break at work. Just keep working to improve and don’t let yourself get stagnant.
Once you see the benefits of these things you will get hungry for more. It will snowball and before you know it you will be living the life you always dreamed of.
I hope this post motivates you and leaves you inspired. It is now up to you to stand up and start living your life in excellence.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the email list so you can stay up to date on the pursuit of excellence. Like this post, share, and comment what you are going to start doing today to escape mediocrity.
Also, check out my other posts for qualities you can start working on now.
https://sheer-excellence.com/blog/
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