and commit their lives to each other— through the good times and the bad , might I remind you—struggle to make it work. After more than 30 years of marriage, two of my favorite people—my mom and dad—recently divorced. I’m very present to the pain of this all too common relational struggle.
Ö Financially —Americans have more personal debt than at any other time in history. Most people aren’t earning nearly as much money as they’d like to be earning. They’re spending too much, not saving enough, and struggling financially.
It’s no secret that most people are living life far below their potential. Once we can acknowledge that, it’s crucial that we explore what causes most people to struggle and settle for mediocrity in their lives.
Step #2: Identify the Causes of Mediocrity
Once we’ve acknowledged that 95% of our society is settling for far less than they are capable of, struggling in almost every area, and not experiencing the levels of success, happiness, and freedom that they really want, the next crucial step is to understand why . To prevent it from happening to you, you must know what causes the average person to end up living a life of mediocrity.
If you were to ask the average person in this country—40-50 years old, settling for less than they want, and struggling to be happy, pay their bills, etc.—if you were to ask them if this was their plan, their vision for their life, what do you think they would say? Do you think they envisioned their life being a struggle? Of course not! And that, my friend, is the scary part.
If 95% of our society is not living the life that they want, we must figure out what they did wrong or what they didn’t do right, so that we don’t end up living a life of mediocrity.
We don’t want our lives to be a struggle. I want a life of freedom, where I get to wake up and do what I want, when I want, with whomever I want. I want to get out of bed every day and truly love my life. I want to love my work, and I want to love the people I get to share my life and work with. That’s my definition of success. That kind of life doesn’t just happen. It must be designed. If you want to live an extraordinary life as defined and designed by you, then you must identify the fundamental causes of mediocrity so you can prevent them from robbing you of the life you want.
The following are what I believe to be the most relevant causes of mediocrity and unfulfilled potential—the ones that have made and will continue to make the biggest impact on your life—and what you can do to defeat them:
Causes of Mediocrity (and Immediate Solutions):
Ö Rearview Mirror Syndrome
One of the most crippling causes of mediocrity in life is a condition I call Rearview Mirror Syndrome (RMS). Our subconscious minds are equipped with a self-limiting rearview mirror, through which we continuously relive and recreate our past. We mistakenly believe that who we were is who we are , thus limiting our true potential in the present, based on the limitations of our past.
As a result, we filter every choice we make—from what time we will wake up in the morning to which goals we will set to what we allow ourselves to consider possible for our lives—through the limitations of our past experiences. We want to create a better life, but sometimes we don’t know how to see it any other way than how it’s always been.
Research shows that on any given day, the average person thinks somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 thoughts. The problem is that ninety-five percent of our thoughts are the same as the ones we thought the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that. It’s no wonder most people go through life, day after day, month after month, year after year, and never change the quality of their lives.
Like old, worn baggage, we carry stress, fear, and worry from yesterday with us into today. When presented with opportunities, we quickly check our rearview mirror to
Ö Financially —Americans have more personal debt than at any other time in history. Most people aren’t earning nearly as much money as they’d like to be earning. They’re spending too much, not saving enough, and struggling financially.
It’s no secret that most people are living life far below their potential. Once we can acknowledge that, it’s crucial that we explore what causes most people to struggle and settle for mediocrity in their lives.
Step #2: Identify the Causes of Mediocrity
Once we’ve acknowledged that 95% of our society is settling for far less than they are capable of, struggling in almost every area, and not experiencing the levels of success, happiness, and freedom that they really want, the next crucial step is to understand why . To prevent it from happening to you, you must know what causes the average person to end up living a life of mediocrity.
If you were to ask the average person in this country—40-50 years old, settling for less than they want, and struggling to be happy, pay their bills, etc.—if you were to ask them if this was their plan, their vision for their life, what do you think they would say? Do you think they envisioned their life being a struggle? Of course not! And that, my friend, is the scary part.
If 95% of our society is not living the life that they want, we must figure out what they did wrong or what they didn’t do right, so that we don’t end up living a life of mediocrity.
We don’t want our lives to be a struggle. I want a life of freedom, where I get to wake up and do what I want, when I want, with whomever I want. I want to get out of bed every day and truly love my life. I want to love my work, and I want to love the people I get to share my life and work with. That’s my definition of success. That kind of life doesn’t just happen. It must be designed. If you want to live an extraordinary life as defined and designed by you, then you must identify the fundamental causes of mediocrity so you can prevent them from robbing you of the life you want.
The following are what I believe to be the most relevant causes of mediocrity and unfulfilled potential—the ones that have made and will continue to make the biggest impact on your life—and what you can do to defeat them:
Causes of Mediocrity (and Immediate Solutions):
Ö Rearview Mirror Syndrome
One of the most crippling causes of mediocrity in life is a condition I call Rearview Mirror Syndrome (RMS). Our subconscious minds are equipped with a self-limiting rearview mirror, through which we continuously relive and recreate our past. We mistakenly believe that who we were is who we are , thus limiting our true potential in the present, based on the limitations of our past.
As a result, we filter every choice we make—from what time we will wake up in the morning to which goals we will set to what we allow ourselves to consider possible for our lives—through the limitations of our past experiences. We want to create a better life, but sometimes we don’t know how to see it any other way than how it’s always been.
Research shows that on any given day, the average person thinks somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 thoughts. The problem is that ninety-five percent of our thoughts are the same as the ones we thought the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that. It’s no wonder most people go through life, day after day, month after month, year after year, and never change the quality of their lives.
Like old, worn baggage, we carry stress, fear, and worry from yesterday with us into today. When presented with opportunities, we quickly check our rearview mirror to
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