Most people in America… 

Spend more than they make and are in debt, watch 3+ hours of TV per day, don’t like their job, do the least they can, call in sick when they’re not (lying), are overweight and don’t exercise, think only two pay periods ahead, blame others for their problems, donate only a fraction of what they could.

 

I am baffled that those same people wonder why they…

Are unhappy, get sick and depressed, are dependent on the government, will work well into retirement, take multiple medications, can’t afford things they

To be successful you must leave behind what's safe and take some chances
To be successful you must leave behind the safety of the approval of others.

need, live paycheck to paycheck, have unhappy relationships.

 

So, you want a simple formula for mega success?

 

Don’t Be Like Most People!

Be weird. Be different. Be the oddball who refuses to justify mediocre performance.

The insidious challenge is that when people around us joke about and justify their average or underperformance in life it becomes social proof. We see others doing the same and figure it’s alright for us.

In the early 80’s a co-worker named Greg shaped my view on this. We worked at Fairfax Lumber and Millwork in Virginia. Greg was assessing a mistake he’d made on a louver, deciding whether or not he should fix it. His response? “It ain’t goin’ in my house,” and let it go. He was not alone in that attitude.

Greg would later wonder why he didn’t get a raise or promotion, never seeing a causal relationship between his actions and results. I decided then and there I would never be that guy. Don’t you either. Resist the tyranny of social proof.

My Virtuoso Tip for this week: Don’t be like most people! Instead…

Surround yourself with people who hold you accountable to your best

Take full responsibility

Hold yourself to a higher standard

Plan you future meticulously

Be healthy in mind, body and spirit

Give abundantly, even sacrificially

Virtuosos refuse to follow the crowd and instead blaze their own trail of excellence. 

One Response

  1. I totally agree! Dare to be different! Go against the current of what everybody else does, chances are they’re living in a poverty mentality. Not enough time, money, resources & never enough compassion for others to help in any way possible. Luke 6:38 saids “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over… for with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. That goes for anything in your life. You always receive more than you give out. When you give if your time, you always get more, true for all the other things I said earlier. My friend, and relative, Sally and her husband, Doug, are two examples of giving out. They always seem to have so much more time, resources, etc., because they live this scripture out loud. Follow by example.

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