I remember when I was doing my internship some years back. One of my colleagues then said that he was not really interested in the internship but was just doing it because it was necessary. At the end of every week, we normally had a test, so he just prepared enough to pass the test to feel comfortable. He did not put in extra effort, he did not push himself to improve; just average. Over time, his results remained average, but he was not really bothered until the end of the internship programme. By the end, the management said that they will reward the top interns with a lot of things, including opportunities, but he missed out of them, because he just settled for the average. Average is an enemy of success, and you should not settle for it.
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There is nothing as limiting as becoming comfortable with the average. It may feel harmless at the beginning, and it may even make you feel safe. This is because it makes you to avoid pressure, it reduces your expectations, and makes you to settle for the routines that require just minimal efforts. But what you also need to understand is that this comfort can become a trap in the long run. It can also quietly hold you back from reaching your full potentials. It makes you not to take risks, and without taking risks, you may not achieve your desired success and goals.
It is not actually bad to be average, but what is bad is accepting the average as your permanent standard. If you become comfortable with average, you will stop pushing yourself forward. It will also mean that you will stop improving, stop growing, and stop learning. It will also make you to do just enough, without taking any step at improvement. It is this mindset that slowly reduces someone's ambition and weakens their drive. You have to understand that it is not settling for the average that makes you outstanding, but by putting in the extra efforts to create extraordinary results.
It is worthy to note that growth will require discomfort at some points. Every new level that you want to attain will demand discipline, efforts, sacrifices, and the willingness to stretch yourself beyond where you are and beyond your current abilities. But if you choose comfort over growth, then you will cut yourself off from the challenges and the opportunities that should have triggered growth. You may feel relaxed at the initial, but what you may not realise is that you are standing still when you should be making progress. Do not settle and feel too comfortable in the place you currently are when you can move forward.
Settling for average also makes someone to lose opportunities and potentials. Everyone has the ability and the potential to achieve more than they currently are. But the potential will become a reality only when it is developed. If you have never challenged yourself, how will you know what you are capable of? Imagine living your life without knowing what you are capable of, and without realising your full potentials. In order to attain your full potentials, you should not settle for the average; always push yourself forward and upwards.
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Being too comfortable with the average affects your mindset in ways you may never even expect. It makes you to just do the bare minimum. Over time, this will become the standard in everything you do; in your work, in tasks, in your personal life, in your personal goals, and even in your relationship. It will make you to stop aiming high because you are used to doing what is "just enough." You have to remove this kind of mentality, so that it will not limit your opportunities, and so that it will not reduce the quality of your result. Always try to strive for excellence in all you do.
Understand that striving for excellence does not mean that you are perfect, rather it means that you are intentional about your growth. That is, you are constantly and consistently asking yourself how you would get better, and how to move ahead from where you are, instead of settling for what you think is enough at the moment. Excellence is built through small, consistent improvements, not sudden perfection.
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