Living a mediocre lifestyle can be suffocating; constantly desiring growth and ‘more’, only to remain in place and complacent with where you’re at. It truly takes an honest conversation with ourselves and accountability of our actions, our goals, and our motivation to move out of said lifestyle and into one of forward motions. Accountability leads us in this direction and without it, growth and advancement out of mediocrity cannot happen. Jump ahead to my podcast episode on mediocrity from February 7, 2016 if you’re short on time and would rather listen!
I like to think of being mediocre as also being complacent. Going through the motions of our daily lives without quite dropping the ball but also without any sort of growth.
In our relationships, our careers, our health-complacency attacks any and all heightened advancements.
Think about a promotion you may be hoping to get. Do you think you would get it if you remain mediocre in your work? Truthfully, probably not. That mediocrity and complacency will keep you getting anywhere close to a promotion.
The great thing is though, if you do find yourself lingering in the mediocre space, you can get out of it; you can grow and succeed. The first step though--change and remove yourself from the areas of our life that only allow you to be mediocre. Don’t spend as much time with mediocre friends. Don’t stay in a job setting that has a ceiling to success and a mediocre job description. Allow yourself the opportunity to be challenged and to constantly grow.
Where do you want to grow from mediocrity? Jot it all down in a journal, on your phone, or on some Sticky Notes. Wherever you want to grow from, record those points but also come up with a strategic game plan on how you will grow out of them and rise to the next level. Writing them down is one thing, acting on them is another story.
With every plateau of mediocrity comes a decision to change followed by actions on how to go about it.
Changes that you make do not need to be large and abrupt. They can be gradual, small changes that accumulate over time. And truthfully, the smaller changes will likely be the ones that last and develop.
Don’t hold back. Be truthful with yourself on what you want to improve but also be proud of yourself in the areas that you do rise to as well as for recognizing that you want more than mediocrity.
There is no reason to settle for mediocre when you can achieve success. Choose success!
For more details on mediocrity as well as some more in depth ways to grow from it, listen to the episode, “Mediocrity--Where Is It Showing Up In Your Life”, on my podcast, Change by Choice, by clicking here! The podcast is on both iTunes and Podcast Addict.
