- Geekmaster
- 2021-10-01 13:43:15
- 18 minute(s)
5 Amazing Tips You Can Use to Raise The Bar & Break Free From Mediocrity Head-on
Have you ever noticed that many people are walking head-down, going through the motions, looking down on their smart phones, mindlessly going about their day? So many of these people are sleeping, even when they’re moving. They’re living mediocre lives. The average American is dissatisfied with the life they are living, which is approximately 57% of them. In this article, I’m going to discuss how you can break free from mediocrity.
Pulling away from the pack requires effort, sacrifice, and perseverance. You have to crave it, and that’s why so many of us languish in the middle.
If that’s where you find yourself, don’t fret. There’s a way out. Everyone has their thing, their desire, their passion. It’s that thing you do (or once did) as an end unto itself, not for the sake of a paycheck, but because you love it. If you’ve got something like that in your life, you owe it to yourself to reach higher. And it starts with a simple decision.
Though you wouldn’t want to admit any association with average thinking or mediocrity, you may have felt their subtle pull.
They tiptoe in and whisper to you through your frustration, your uncertainty, your lack of time. Before you know it, they have you shifting away from your pursuit of excellence, focusing you instead on doing what it takes to get by from day to day. Creating an environment of thinking small, being insignificant and choosing a world of mediocrity has become acceptable. Even more than that, it has become the norm. People play a safe game.
We are all battling with mediocrity and we all want to know how to achieve success.
We all have sometimes or the other, in some form or the other, said that I want my life to be big and do not want to settle for mediocrity. Well, let’s actually understand what we mean by not settling for mediocrity. It can be hard to know whether you are on your way to achieve success or mediocrity. In your daily life, you may be doing great and feeling successful doing the work and feeling accomplished by getting things done. But how do you know if you are actually following the path of becoming a true master and achieve success or accepting mediocre results because your standards are too low?
But keep in mind that mediocrity is not destiny.
Fighting against mediocrity is hard, but it is well worth it. The fight against mediocrity begins with our minds and our mouths. If you think you are mediocre, these five tips Are a surefire way to get you started on becoming the person you want to be by raising the bar and breaking free from mediocrity.
Think Big, Act Small
People in a fixed mindset believe they either are or aren’t good at something, based on their inherent nature. People in a growth mindset believe they can improve through hard work and practice, as everything is an opportunity to grow your intelligence. The growth mindset reflects that your abilities are entirely due to your actions. Eliminate the excuses, blaming, lack of responsibility and reject a way of life that is soul-destroying. Take on new challenges with optimism.
If you seek to escape the bonds of mediocrity, you must model the behaviors of superstars and avoid those of average people.
No matter the domain, the elite choose behaviors and mindsets that set them apart from the main pack. Regardless of how close you are to reaching your goals, if you are persistent but don’t have a plan, you will reach nowhere. It’s like if you’re going to visit a place in another country. No matter how hard you work on getting to that place, if you don’t have a map to guide you to place you want to reach, you will never get there. Let the crowd follow you instead of you following the crowd. Usually, leaders go somewhere that nobody has been before. So let the people follow you.
Lots of people try to copy other famous people and do not try to live someone else’s life. Be the best of who you are.
Most advice given is provided by people who have not attained results in their own life. Instead they preach about what “we” should be doing. Seek advice from someone who has the results you want and eliminate the “Debbie Downers”. There is enough negativity in the world without it penetrating your inner circle and permeating within. Select friends who stand above petty, unimportant things. People who are interested in positive things and friends who want to see you succeed. Surround yourself with encouragers.
That said, being a famous blogger or influencer, building profitable project, or collecting 10000 dollars for local charity — there are examples of thinking big.
However, you can’t achieve any of these goals at night. Things last. What you should do is to start with a small action, then observe the results and ultimately improve it in time — continuously. The idea should be ambitious and developmental, however, our steps towards the goal should be small enough to fulfill all of our needs at this moment and give us more opportunities for further development. If something went wrong, consequences will be smaller, so we can go back and revalidate our actions or update our plans according to results. Evolution, instead of revolution.
People love to talk about their dreams; they come alive when they share their hopes for the future.
However, a dream remains fanciful until you pursue it, in small ways, during your everyday routine. The daily things you do determine whether your dreams come true. Expertise develops from the accumulation of simple lessons learned over the course of time. When you accomplish a small step, you provide yourself encouragement that you can accomplish the next step after that. People at the top of their professions aren’t necessarily brilliant; they’re extraordinarily dedicated. Starting small qualifies you for bigger and better things. If you can’t successfully lead one person, who is going to entrust you with an entire division?
Escape Your Comfort Zone
Remind yourself of the popular saying, “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” Sometimes the biggest barrier to what we want in life is our own reluctance to step into unexplored territory and take the necessary steps towards our dreams and ambitions. However, in order to make it in life, you must step out of your comfort zone and face your biggest fears. Only then can you grow. No excuses.
Average people live the same monotonous life every day.
They work a 9 to 5 job, save just enough money for 1 vacation a year, and are hoping that they’ll have made enough money in 40 years to enjoy retirement. Those who aren’t mediocre live life on the edge. To avoid mediocrity, you cannot be fearful of the risks that come with it. Always weigh the risk factor into every decision, but be open to taking risks. Be willing to get out of your comfort zone and try new things. If you keep an open mind, you will find yourself in the middle of many more opportunities as well.
When you were a child, you never wanted to be a suit, a paper pusher or a dream killer.
You wanted to a make difference to the world. You wanted to be a huge splash in the water. So, why are you not making it? It is time that you give up complacency and stop squandering your lives in doing mediocre things. Start from your job. Leave your comfort zone, take more challenges and push yourself to the next level. Because when you start loving your comfort zone, you cease to achieve. So, give up complacency and let the enlightenment dissipate.
A life without risks is surely safe and lets you live a life where you can pay your regular bills and rent, but at the same time, it is also boring and sinks you into mediocrity.
To escape this mediocrity, take advantage of every moment of your life if you feel you can do something productive out of it. Right from our childhood, our mind is trained to always play safe and as a result, it settles for something which is way below its capability. Start taking risks to achieve a goal as it requires courage to face the fear of uncertainty. No matter what the outcome, either way, we grow through the process and become more resilient and confident. Better yet, building those skills helps in taking more risks and improves the chances of achieving future goals.
It’s much easier to remain within the boundaries of where you feel comfortable than it is to face the fear of venturing beyond them.
But by limiting yourself to what you already know, you’re likely missing out on professional opportunities, life experiences, and personal growth. Every time you’re making a choice, one choice is the safe/comfortable choice, and one choice is the risky/uncomfortable choice. The risky/uncomfortable choice is the one that will teach you the most and make you grow the most, so that’s the one you should choose. Believe me, you can do this. You have everything you need to succeed. Let your instincts lead you as you pursue this kind of growth.
Accept Criticism With Grace
Criticism is what makes you have a broad mind to the possibility of doing something the next time with better insights, and is also what helps you toward having the psychological shift from what you considered fundamental to what actually is.
Nobody likes to be judged; nobody wants to be at fault, nobody wants to get criticized, though everybody faces it at some point in time.
Criticism is something negative which no-one wants to hear, but it also has a bright side. Criticism somehow helps in the growth of an individual. Without facing criticism, we won’t be able to know what other’s perception is for you, how much capability you have to overcome these critics. When people criticize you, you start growing, and you start improving yourself. The negatives or criticism, which people talk about you, helps to comprehend your weaknesses, and upgrade them. It helps you to identify your faults and overcome them using different methods or strategies. The more you face criticism, the more you grow.
The source of the criticism is an important factor in evaluating its validity.
A trusted professor who has your best interest in mind is likely to give you good constructive criticism. But keep in mind that not everyone who is trying to give you constructive criticism does it in a tactful way. Keep in mind that people who don’t know you, and have no interest in helping you, probably aren’t going to give you helpful feedback. Whether their criticism is meant to be constructive or destructive, it is not helpful if they don’t have a basis for their remarks.
The most natural human response is to avoid criticism. But without criticism, there’s no growth.
It is easy to ignore feedback with the attitude that it doesn’t apply to you, but accepting the uncomfortable truth, even if it’s painful at first is the only way to grow. Adopting a positive outlook will help you in triggering the right behavior. There’s still work involved in finding a needle in a haystack — yes, that’s what useful feedback turns out to be. You need to cut through the noise and find that one piece of wisdom that will bring value to your work. It’s more art than science and something that can be acquired only through experience. You will make mistakes, you will feel frustrated, even demotivated at times, but if you keep at it, it will lead you to a path of learning and growth.
Your active listening skills come in very handy when you’re learning to accept and learn from criticism.
It is tempting to defend ourselves when we receive criticism, but it is vital to resist this. When someone offers you feedback or criticism, listen with an open mind. You may not agree with all (or any) of what he or she has to say, but it is important to hear the person out. Reflect back what you understand the person to have said, and check for understanding. Answer any questions non-defensively, and do not interrupt. Listen to understand, not to respond.
Own Your Voice
Highlight yourself with your ability to perform tasks in a unique way. It is very much urgent to be unique in competitive era. Therefore, come up with new ideas and support ideas which you believe in. It is very much necessary at workplace to listen your hearts. Dance to your heart’s tune and you will find a unique way to do your work.
Cultivating your inner warrior, the sacred mixture of masculine and feminine energy, forms a deep sense of wholeness, confidence and inner joy.
Speaking your truth creates alignment with how you live your life. Setting boundaries while pursuing what you love ignites your will. Focus on what you have control over – your effort and attitude. Zap negative thoughts out of your head and look for opportunity in every obstacle. Be relentless, ignore the naysayers and the dream stealers. Choose to move forward with total confidence and create your own destiny.
Having your own voice can go a long way to help you perfect your craft.
It’s when you try to do something that’s entirely not yours that you make leaps your engine just was not designed to make — yet. Most people like to connect with the kind of vulnerability they thought they were the only ones who’d had. If you can share with others your deepest emotions just to assure them they are not alone, that it’s alright to yearn for a shoulder to cry on, that it’s okay to rip jeans to try and fit in, that you know exactly what it takes to go from having nothing and a few cents to having something and a million dollars — because you’ve been there — then share.
Though most of us like the idea of being true to ourselves, in the moment – almost like a reflex — we start to conform to what everybody else is doing.
Living in a world where there are so many social constructs and conformities to follow, staying true to yourself is not the easiest thing to do. Here are some ways to help you develop a voice that is authentic to who you are. One thing that makes every person unique is that we all have our own individual voice. Your own voice plays a large role in making you stand out and establishing your sole message or purpose that you are trying to get across to others. Living in a world where there are so many social constructs and conformities to follow, staying true to yourself is not the easiest thing to do.
Your voice is what you have to say to the world. So make it worth hearing!
It is something that wants to get out of you. It’s the feeling that you would not have fully lived, without letting the world know. Your voice is in fact, your contribution to mankind. When you live with a willingness to allow your authentic voice to be heard something mystical and magical begins to happen: Your heart opens and your soul soars because you are revealing who you were born to be. Indeed, sing your song for all you are worth… and trust me, who you are is extraordinarily invaluable. Why? Because you are one of a kind. THAT is how important your gift is to the world — the world needs to hear your authentic voice.
Take Responsibility
Stepping up and taking responsibility for what’s going on in your life is one of the most important things you will ever do — and one of the best. When you own what’s happening in your life, you can really start to shape your future. Essentially, this means acknowledging the role you play in your own life — the good bits and the bad bits.
Regardless of what your situation may be, challenges or circumstances you are facing, within you, lies an ability to rise above them, and you must call it forth.
Doing so means that you are choosing to hold yourself accountable for all that goes wrong in your life and rise above mediocrity. Holding yourself accountable does not mean you should feel guilty or blame yourself, it means realizing that you have the strength to maneuver your future to become someone you can be proud of. You can bring anything to life if you put the necessary effort into it and take responsibility for controlling your own ambitions.
The more you fail and recover and improve, the better you become as a person.
So make sure the failures of your life and the roadblocks that you face do not discourage you but the success that comes after that, let that shape who you are. No human ever became interesting by not failing. Not failing is a sign of mediocrity because you haven’t tried. When you aim for the stars you are going to face hurdles while going against gravity. But don’t let gravity (mediocrity) stop you from achieving the stars.
Taking responsibility puts you at choice and that allows you to choose how to respond to life’s challenges. You move into the driver seat of your life’s journey.
You take responsibility when you accept that the thoughts you have, are your thoughts coming from your mind. How you feel happens in your body and is a result of your thoughts. The words you speak come from your mouth and voice. The actions you take, are taken by you. What this means is that nobody can make you think, feel, say or do anything. Nobody can push your buttons, because you are the button maker! In the same way you don’t have control over how other people respond as they respond from their mindset.
Life doesn’t have to be something that happens to us but something we shape and control. Being responsible entails taking accountability.
Some people love receiving praise but find difficulty in accepting responsibility when things don’t quite pan out. When you avoid taking blame or admitting that you were wrong, you don’t grow. Pride is a primary reason why some people have trouble taking accountability. However, this is usually to their detriment, leaving them to continue repeating the same mistakes over and over again. When we accept responsibility, we understand our part in a given situation. Of course, you do not want to engage in self-pity or feelings of guilt. However, in being accountable, you can a more proactive approach by correcting poor behavior and making better decisions.
Wrapping Up
Perhaps you have lost sight of what is truly important and too often focus on what you can’t control. What happens when you unleash happiness, unlock your potential and break free from the herd to create business success? Here’s the thing: You don’t need to be superhuman. You can quite easily break free from the cult of mediocrity.
Being mediocre is easy. Anybody can do it. And most people do.
Following your passion, being crazy enough to try to change the world and standing for something important is hard. That’s bold. What happened to people smiling, leaders driving change, being creative, and generating happiness? Not the fake smile happiness. I am talking about the inner revolution. Where possibilities are the norms, culture thrives and people shine.
Each of us has unique skills and qualities and can actually make a difference but we want to make our life easy and choose not to move beyond our comfort zone.
To battle mediocrity, you will first have to fight with yourself by not allowing yourself to be that person and believing that like the many other people around you too are here to do something special. So give up all your inhibitions, pull your socks up and be ready to be the master of your trade by fighting mediocrity and thus achieving your dream.
Mediocrity is the basis for us being able to be remarkable. Don’t go loathing it. Embrace it and get started.
If you’ve got something like that in your life, you owe it to yourself to reach higher. And it starts with a simple decision. Avoiding mediocrity is a goal that everyone in the world should strive for. I set myself up on this path while I started leading people and I’m so glad that I have! What do you think? Did you like my contribution against mediocrity? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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