Have you done your absolute very best today?

We are dying a slow and painful death from the disease of mediocrity.

Look in the dictionary; this means to deprive from or expel and ease means freedom from pain, worry, poverty or trouble. To have the disease of mediocrity is to deprive yourself from being free from pain, worry, poverty or trouble. I ask you, who gains from a life void of freedom?

The disease of Mediocrity kills by robbing us of our dreams and goals, while eroding at a high quality of life. It’s much like cancer, if unchecked and left to fester, eventually death is certain, but not usually before the time spent suffering has affected other vital organs.

Ask yourself, have you ever felt that quiet, unsettling lack of self esteem when you know deep inside you haven’t been trying hard enough? The Disease of Mediocrity is a slow, eroding state that provides a superficial sense of comfort when all the while you know you’re not pushing for what you really can be.

All of our lives are moving at the speed of light and appears there is no slowing down. Many of us feel overwhelmed by a life filled with too much, too fast and not enough time or resources to manage the load, so why try? We now live in the information age, an era of high speed communications. We just don’t make or take the time to build connections to the broad scope of information available to us. Have you noticed the lack of attention to detail now rampant in traditionally service oriented environments? When was the last time someone said to you, ‘have a nice day’ and actually meant it? Most people have long since left behind the notion of taking the responsibility of insuring you actually have a nice day, rather than uttering the trite words that have no back bone of intention affixed to them!

I cant’ tell you the number of times I have witnessed others sleepwalking through life, going through the motions and not being in the moment. Personal and professional development is paramount to living a happy and balanced life. In order to serve others well, you must first accept responsibility for developing and maintaining a high standard of effectiveness in getting the job done!

So you ask, what is the cure? Quit the ‘stop and start’ workout routines, no more weak or non existent life plans. People, do your homework first. Develop a quality standard for how you do things. Start with intention! What are your intentions? Why do you do anything? If you are going to put forth any effort, why not put out maximum effort and start performing better by design. What type of mental medicine are you subscribing to? Could it be a prescription of personal achievement, spiritual development, or how about a dose of mindset training?

Reverse the tide of apathy and carelessness and replace them with a strong ‘personal quality code’. Bring back the spirit of ‘pride in ownership’! Pursue excellence. So what do these expressions together suggest about how we should be doing things?

Frankly, the cure for the disease of mediocrity lies in the hands of the holder. A desire to do your best by becoming a good proactive reader of people and situations will put you in a ‘ready to respond effectively mode’. Understanding the needs of others, allows you the opportunity to provide a service for their needs. Stop wasting precious time having to redo things because of a haphazard work ethic that only leads to dissatisfaction from others, resulting in redoubling your efforts of providing respectful service.

Those who continue as participants in the world of mediocrity are screaming to the cosmos, “I’m willing to settle”. Settling is a way of telling yourself that you are worthy of less than good, less than great. You are clearly giving up your right to live a better life! Finally, consider how many people would have lined up to see Michael Jordon play basketball or Tiger Woods play golf if they had chosen to settle for mediocrity? When was the last time you called a friend and shouted with enthusiasm, let’s go catch the latest movie called ‘Meeting of the Minds, I hear it’s really mediocre? What I know is that it’s possible to discover that place, that personal place, where you know inside yourself that you are working to be the best you can be. Finding that place is what I call finding excellence, your own personal version of excellence.

“It is not the mountain that we conquer, but ourselves.” – Edmund Hillary

Tags: Articles, professional development coaching, above mediocrity, professional development, mindset coaching, mediocrity kills

Tags: above mediocrity, mediocrity, mediocrity kills, mindset coaching, professional development, professional development coaching

This entry was posted on Monday, March 29th, 2010 at 12:54 pm and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.