Mediocrity is the quality of being mediocre. The dictionary defines it as – neither good nor bad. Just adequate. Have you ever felt like you have become mediocre? I definitely have & very regularly too. The problem is not with the feeling. The problem is being okay with the feeling of being mediocre. The bigger problem is staying OK with THIS feeling for long patches of time and NOT doing much about it. It can hugely impact your Life results over a period of time. But before we delve into ‘How to Eliminate Mediocrity from your Life?’ let me tell you, in very clear words, what being mediocre is, because many of you, especially the younger clan, do not have a very clear picture.
Mediocrity is the hallmark of losers.
Mediocrity is what keeps the law of averages alive. It is what tells you – that adequacy is ok. Don’t be greedy alright. But don’t confuse your mediocrity with adequacy and satisfaction either.
Promising yourself to focus on your fitness but then spending that exercise time watching stupid videos on YouTube or on those 3-4 apps on mobile is mediocrity.
Dreaming big but not having the audacity to go insane for your dreams- that is mediocrity. Hell, not dreaming at all is super mediocrity.
Failing is not mediocrity. But not wanting to get up is. Giving up is not mediocrity. Most of us do it at some point. But giving up again and again is.
Choosing to destroy your body and mind with mindless addictions in the name of coolness – yes. Mediocrity. Your ignorant ideas about coolness that do nothing but push your evolution in the opposite direction – is you painting your life with the color called mediocrity.
Not putting in enough work is mediocrity. Even an ant is more excellent than you are, if you fall into this mediocrity trap.
Letting your vritis (tendencies) over rule your ‘decisions to change’ is Mediocrity.
Mediocrity is being stuck in the middle. Cheating is mediocrity. Not breaking up completely is mediocrity. Either dump him / her or be with him / her. There is no middle-ground in life. That’s just being mediocre. Yes, mediocrity is you being a ‘beech kabandar’!
Not being able to take a stand is not mediocrity. But believing you have great ideals and morals, and still being quiet when you see injustice – that’s mediocrity.
Being a rebel for stupid reasons – that’s super mediocrity.
Consistently indulging in people and their issues which do not matter to you is mediocrity. Spending too much time on TV, in Office politics & in Indian politics (if you do not wish to make a career in it) is a huge sign of mediocrity. Forgetting that you have a life and getting swayed into hyper discussing, commenting & sharing Modis, Kejriwals and Rahuls – super mediocrity.
Believing you have a lot of time, and then wasting all that time, and then scrambling at the 11th hour – that’s mediocrity.
In this one small life, not consciously searching for and working for your purpose – that’s mediocrity …
Which one of these traits do you have?
Now that you know what mediocrity is, and whether you are mediocre or not, let us see how this can be fixed.
See, mediocrity is more of a mental state. Your excellence does not have to be on public display, just like your mediocrity is not always visible to the naked eye! You could appear excellent to the world and yet be mediocre in your ideology, your thoughts & your habits. But if you can see it, you need to FIX it. I am not asking you to suddenly become the epitome of greatness. It takes time. But please start working on the foundation. Every moment you miss, you are making yourself late for embarking on the journey of the extraordinary. (Mindblowing video on greatness)
(Image courtesy: SlideShare)
So, how to eliminate mediocrity from your life? & thence permanently fix this evil? Read the below 6 pointers very carefully. Here-in might just be lying your permanent solution:-
- First Step- Accepting that you are mediocre:
You are probably doing the same mediocre things (by getting inspired by mediocre people), that too halfheartedly. But you are expecting great results. Kaise hoga? Zindagi ke Jamai ho kyaa? Mediocrity is comfortable. And those living in their comfort zones, know it best! It is addictive. And hence, the first step to recovery (like any drug addict), is to really & deeply want to not be mediocre. Accepting is the starting point. Most people do not even acknowledge. Once you accept it fully some 25% of the work is done. This is because you have a foundation now to build a skyscraper. That requires a Himalayan will power but (Click to know How to get it).
- Flip your inertia:
To fix this love for laziness in life, we need to flip the inertia. If you are forever in rest, you will remain in rest forever (Newton’s second law of motion holds very true for life!). Flip it into inertia of motion. And you know the biggest hurdle in the flip – is your FIRST STEP.
e.g. this morning itself I woke up to an anxious, long list of ‘To Dos’ (too many had gotten piled up). Then I started executing the list one by one patiently and confidently. Done! Within 2-3 hrs. Lessons learnt – 99 % stuff in our minds is Cobwebs. Kill that damn spider by ‘Just doing it’ & by not just keeping on thinking about it. Be a Superman! Kill the Spiderman habit.
(Image courtesy: Quote HD)
- Make notes about learning from other people:
We can learn from the extra-ordinary around us, from those successful people who beat all the odds. Their biggest secret is – their relationship with failure and their strictness on the path to success.They are excellent because they are not easy on themselves. They are excellent because they do not allow themselves to give up. They do stuff which champions are made up of.
- Identifying -Who is your REAL competition?
You fear competition because you misunderstand it. Trust me – very few people are putting in extraordinary efforts consistently. Your biggest competition & enemy is not ‘Sharma Ji ka Beta’ (no matter what your relatives say). It is YOU and only YOU. You are your biggest enemy.
- Nip it at the Earliest:
Mediocrity is a habit that hits us young, in 90% of the cases. A little slip every day, and you become ‘just average’ pretty quickly. And the life time value of mediocrity strengthens as you grow, if not checked in time. So if you are young and you realize this problem – nip it right in the bud. Start doing your best in whatever you set your heart on. One day at a time. (Read How to Get Rid of Bad Habits – The Practical Way)
As the saying goes, “a stitch in time saves nine”, if you do not identify where you are going wrong soon, it will just snowball to a point of no return. Your habits will just chain you fully.
As a Motivational Speaker, I constantly tell all my audiences –
‘Either do it fully OR do not do it. You cannot be almost married.’
- Remove fast- the clutter from your life:
Today, go find those 5 things that you know are taking you towards achieving your goals and those 20 things that hinder your progress. And then dump those 20 things one by one in the garbage. Life is too short for those things (and people) that take you backward in life (and it is only your purpose, or your quest for your purpose that can determine what takes you back).
“Mediocrity doesn’t mean average intelligence, it means an average intelligence that resents and envies its betters.”
– Ayn Rand
Don’t be that jealous, okay kind. Some 10% of the people around you are poor in their energies, attitudes, IQ, EQ & SQs. I am very sure that no more than another maximum 10% will be very high on these three. It is the remaining 80% who are mediocre & populating the world & making it burst with mediocrity. Please do not contribute to their numbers. Be remarkable.
Let me share a very beautiful story:
Once there was a king who received a gift of two magnificent falcons from Arabia. He gave the precious birds to his head falconer to be trained. Months passed and one day the head falconer informed the king that though one of the falcons was flying majestically, soaring high in the sky, the other bird had not moved from its branch since the day it had arrived.
The king summoned healers and sorcerers from all the land to tend to the falcon, but no one could make the bird fly. He presented the task to the member of his court, but the next day, the king saw through the palace window that the bird had still not moved from its perch. Having tried everything else, the king thought to himself, “May be I need someone more familiar with the countryside to understand the nature of this problem.” So he cried out to his court, “Go and get a farmer.”
In the morning, the king was thrilled to see the falcon soaring high above the palace gardens. He said to his court, “Bring me the doer of this miracle.”
The court quickly located the farmer, who came and stood before the king. The king asked him, “How did you make the falcon fly?”
With his head bowed, the farmer said to the king, ” It was very easy, your highness. I simply cut the branch where the bird was sitting.”
We are all made to fly — to realize our incredible potential as human beings. But instead of doing that, we sit on our branches, clinging to the things that are familiar to us. The possibilities are endless, but for most of us, they remain undiscovered. We conform to the familiar, the comfortable, the mundane. So for the most part, our lives are mediocre instead of exciting, thrilling and fulfilling.
One or two bad days are okay. But you have to get out of it. A bow pushes back before it launches the arrow with all its might. But do remember – that if the arrow goes back more than required, there is a high chance that the string and the bow will both snap. Don’t let the bow of your life snap because you are okay with bad habits and mediocre thoughts. Don’t be okay with being average. Just being adequate isn’t enough. Don’t be just a ‘neembu paani’ with adequate amount of sugar and salt and lemon when you can also be a ‘hara bhara kabab’ with endless possibilities of opportunities.
(Image Courtesy: TinaBlogsALot)
Remember – it is all in the mind. If your mind is mediocre, it doesn’t matter how excellent you put up an exterior to the world. You could be in the remotest corner of the world and still be an extremely remarkable person, if you are living your life fully and the way you want. And you could be living in Antilla and still be mediocre, if you know deep down, that you haven’t done everything to be happy and to be purposeful.
Destroy the branches of fear that you are clinging to and free yourself to the glory of flight. One Life!
![](https://akashgautam.com/wp-content/themes/Akash%20Gautam/images/blog-email.png")
