The introduction of this book gives a thoughtful description of mediocrity.
“mediocrity is a region bound on the north by compromises, on the south by indecision, on the east by past thinking, and on the west by a lack of vision”.
Mediocrity is a state of low quality, value, ability, or performance. [AVERAGENESS]
Can we tell when we are living a mediocre life?
We all have areas in our lives that need improvement. We have talents, we have gifts, and we have goals that we need to work on. Everyone one of us is endowed with a certain mixture of abilities and opportunities that make us unique. No mixture is insignificant. There is something that has been placed within each of us that causes us to cry out to be above average & extraordinary. We crave purpose one way or another.
Purpose was the subtle theme of this book. It wasn't discussed in great detail, but all the nuggets were directed towards it.
Over a convo with a friend I was able to deduce a definition of purposelessness;
“Feeling sad about what you don’t have, but not knowing what it is you want”.
What is it you want?
The most common answer to this …………… guess? …………………MONEY!!
But I’ve come to believe that this is a shallow answer, one that wasn’t given much thought.
Some might say HAPPINESS!!
But to this WILLIAM SCOLAVINO says
“Seek for purpose and happiness will follow as a shadow comes with the sunshine”.
John Foster said, “It is a poor disgraceful thing not to be able to reply with some degree of certainty, to the simple questions; What will you be? What will you do?”
For the past 4 years what I thought I wanted has changed in one way or the other.
One of my earliest dreams as a young child was being the Doctor who found the cure to HIV, A little after that I wanted to own an international printing press with a design studio, then there came the idea of being a medical fitness instructor with a gym of my own, and many more came until I settled on the ones I have right now. And I think it's okay if our goals change every now and then. We are faced with different opportunities in life we should make the most of them and pattern our goals to them
Why is it important we find purpose?
It is because success has little to do with speed but much to do with Timing and Direction. What benefit is running if you’re running on the wrong road? The key is doing the right thing, the right way at the right time.
How do we discover purpose?
I don't know a straight answer to this, but I know it requires the help of God and Self-reflection with a good amount of research.
When we discover our purpose, the best time to start working towards it is now! No matter what our current situation is.
Quoting a good friend of mine; it is not your current situation that matters but your trajectory.
Ecc 4:11 says “If you wait for Perfect conditions you will never get anything done.
Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.
Don't spend too much time dreaming of the future, a little of it arrives every day. Now is all you have. Everything that has ever happened, anything that will is ever going to happen to you is just a thought. So start now.
Set goals for yourself 5 to 10 years from now. Write them down and follow through, if you cannot see the mark you cannot press forward. You will find that what you learn on the path to your goals is actually more valuable than the goal itself.
Hypothetically;
You now have it all figured out. You have a goal, a plan, and a deadline. Many other factors can influence your journey. One of them is the people you surround yourself with; because the truth is we become like those we associate with. A good litmus test is to ask ourselves this question: Does this person bring out the best in me? We should insulate ourselves from people who are detrimental to us. We usually know this sort of people the minute they walk into our lives. They bring negative habits and ideas. Surround yourself with people who have accomplished the goals you have set for yourself or are on the road to accomplishing them as well. They influence you to do better. Remember; in the eyes of average people, the average is always considered outstanding. You think you are doing a lot because you are surrounded by people doing much less.
This book was loaded with so many points, many of them in quotes.
I also intentionally left a couple of questions unanswered because I believe we would need to find answers to them for ourselves.
My favorite of the quotes;
“Everyone is on the move. People are moving forward, backward, and sometimes nowhere at all as though they are on a treadmill. The mistake most people make is thinking that the main goal in life is to stay busy. Such thinking is a trap. What is important is not whether you are busy, but whether you are progressing. The question is one of activity versus accomplishment.”