achieve your goalsI don’t get it why we seem to live in the MUSA: The Mediocre United States of America. That’s not entirely fair. I’ve travelled all over the world and it seems everyone is content in their mediocrity. They like to settle for it. They like to settle for mediocre lives, mediocre jobs, and mediocre love.

I’ll give you an example.

The other day, my team and I were re-doing some work I’d approved ages ago. One of my team members said “Hey, I thought it was all approved. Why are we doing this again?”

It was approved. But then after reviewing it, my senior staff and I, realized it wasn’t up to our standards and we decided to do it over. If we’d left up to just anyone it would have gone out in any condition. You, the readers would have felt cheated, my business would suffer, and worst of all I’d have let you down by not giving you the best.

This is the power of mediocrity. And this way you can learn from it.

You’re Only Going To Live Once, So Why Live It Mediocre?

You’ve got one shot at this magic gift called life, so why are going to live a mediocre life?

Why are you going to settle and be with a woman you don’t want to be with?

Settle for the job you don’t really want?

Settle for friends that you’re not really excited about?

Live in a place that you’re not really happy about. Why?

The only power anyone has is the power of choice. Every day you get to make decisions affecting the rest of your life. So, if you feel like you’re settling you’ve only got yourself to blame.

Only You Can Fix It 

We can all admit change is hard. Change scares the hell out of most people, plain and simple. It’s how so many people end up leading mediocre lives. Everyone wants to be extraordinary but it takes hard work. It takes reinventing yourself not just once or twice, but on a near daily level.

We live in a fast paced world. The mediocre are content to sit by as the world changes around them. The extraordinary are reading everything they can get their hands on, they’re making plans and executing them, they’re proactive in administering the change they want to see.

Patience is Your Best Friend

The main reason change is difficult is because it takes so much time. It takes 20 hours to learn the basics, but 10,000 hours to become a master of something. So many people feel the rush of 20 hours. They’re hands on, they’re learning, they’re feeling themselves grow and they feel more powerful.

But, after 20 hours making new strides takes longer and longer. For example you can learn to play baseball pretty quickly. The rules are simple. The game requires a little hand eye coordination, a bat, and a glove. But if you want to improve your batting average you’ve got to work out. You have to go to the batting cages almost every day. You’ve got to train with different pitchers to learn different styles.

It takes forever. You have to sacrifice time with family and friends to put in the time to improve. So many people become discouraged and stop trying.

Learn to Take Criticism

On your way to a better you, you’re going to have critics. Some are genuine and there to help. Others are jealous and trying to hurt you. The best thing about criticism is you only have to listen. The same is true of all advice. Listen to what you’re being told, see if the advice works for you, choose whether or not you want to use it in the future.

It’s tough to be criticized. Criticism can absolutely destroy your ego. Mediocre people are led by their egos. Makes more sense, doesn’t it? How could a mediocre person have a big ego?

Well, of course they can. Because mediocre people will always get insulted whenever somebody criticize them or tells them that they need to make change. To me, change is invigorating. Change is enlightening. Change is one of the most beautiful things you can do for your life. Don’t settle for mediocrity.

If you want to live a better life, I strongly suggest you make the decision to change and then put into action. It’s as easy and as challenging as it sounds. A year from now you’ll wish you’d started today.