*Below is an excerpt from “What Extraordinary People Know: How To Cut the Busy B.S. and Live Your Kick-Ass Life“
“Is there a difference between average and mediocre? Not so much.”
-Seth Godin
Every day, millions of people wake up to a dull life characterized by shallow relationships, mundane jobs, low incomes, muffin tops, uncontrollable insecurity, and endless worry about when it’s all going to stop. They change slowly and unconsciously over time – and not for the better.
They know something is wrong. There’s a constant whisper in the back of their minds that reminds them this, a voice that can’t be silenced.
Very few people act to silence that never-ending stream of anxiety. But there’s good news : if you’re reading this, you are taking the first step towards change! You’re part of the minority that’s actually seeking improvement. But the majority of people won’t. Why? If they knew something is wrong, why don’t they do something about it?
This happens for many reasons. Some people are just too scared. They don’t want to rock the boat. “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t,” they sigh as they tolerate another slap in the face from their mediocre, substandard environment. But this fear is powerful, and it can grow so powerful that it will dictate every decision you make.
Others are too distracted. They’re so caught up in the mundane, trivial rhythms of email, traffic, work, the news, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, TV, and whatever their smartphone is buzzing about that they can’t even see their lives have become unfulfilling and profoundly empty. From the moment they wake up to the moment they fall asleep, their eyes are drawn to the short term.
Some people remain in mediocrity because they’re just too prideful: they like being the big fish in their small pond (even if their pond is dirty and full of toxic waste). They know they need to change, but they don’t want to start over and learn the new skills required to succeed on higher levels.
But by far the most common reason most people never rearrange their cruddy life: they simply can’t be bothered.
Feeling panicked? Depressed? Like a failure? Don’t worry. I’m just giving you the bad news first. Trust me – once you know how the game works, you’ll be ahead of 95 percent of the competition. But before you can excel in any area, you need to know what you’re up against. I haven’t even gotten to the worst part: the world actually sets you up for failure.
I’m happy to report that you can break the cycle. I have done so myself, as have thousands of others. However, in order to do so, there is still one more thing you need to understand…and that’s that the game is set up against you. The world, society as a whole, actually wants you to stay in the trap.