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
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.