The Fear Of Mediocrity

The Fear Of Mediocrity

    There is something  I fear more than anything. I see it all around me. It troubles me. That thing is mediocrity, or being average. And this trepidation drives me all day, every day, every second and every time. This fear is what pushes me.

    An average person lives a very average life. I can describe the lives of such people. There's this man whose name is Carl. Carl wakes up at 9 AM after snoozing off his alarm for the 6th time. He lazily gets up with no motive, freshens up and then has his breakfast and heads off to work. He doesn't want to go to college in the first place, but he goes anyway because that's what the society is telling him to do, because that's what is expected from him by the society. He spends his most sorrowful 8 hours in college, then returns home. After reaching home, he loosens his tie and relaxes on the couch with a beer, hopping between channels. He gets on his social media, watches videos, reacts on memes, stalks and likes his crush's photos, then he plays games and gets mad for losing, blames it on his team-mates. On Friday nights, he goes to the club with his guys, gets hammered, gets stoned, and on lucky nights gets laid. Other nights, he just falls asleep in front of the TV, or while watching YouTube. This goes on and on and on.

    So you may ask, where is Carl going to be in the next, say 2-3 years? Exactly where he is right now. He might graduate and might get a job that he will ultimately hate. He might wonder why life is so unfair, why he is not financially free yet, why he is still single, why he is still not getting popular. He might wish his life could be a little bit more like that of his friend, Earl. Now, Carl might have heard that Earl got promoted to Deputy Manager, and has been living with his high-school sweetheart in his little apartment. Carl wants a sweetheart, he "wishes" he had a sweetheart. So why is it so that in such short period of time in the future, Carl and Earl are totally different although they went to the same college? It's because Carl is living in his comfort zone in present. The mediocre people live in this zone because this is the easiest place you can live in, but not the place you want yourself to be in.

    Let's see why in the future Earl is everything what Carl wants to be. Earl, he is not your "average Joe". He gets up at 5 in the morning, heads off to the gym, sweats and showers. He then heads off to college, where he studies Finance, Economics and Business. He chose the subjects himself, therefore he enjoys his 8 hours of study. At home, he helps in the kitchen, does homeworks. During free time, he reads book, he listens to Podcasts, studies about current trends and sometimes goes for an evening-walk. He calls his girlfriend every night before he sleeps, asks her about her day, has a good conversation. He makes plans for the next day, then sleeps. Every weekend, he spends his time with his girlfriend, or with his friends.

    So what's so different about Carl and Earl? Earl is indeed not living the easy life. I mean he reads books? Now who reads books? That is so geeky. Earl is dating only one girl who is not the prettiest, not popular and not the funniest. He gets up at 5?! Oh my God, why is Earl living like that? Now Carl, he is pretty cool. He is popular on social media, he is always surrounded by cool people in college, he's aways on some drama with some chicks. He is funny, he is very open, he has a very big circle. Well, you know what they say, " Don't judge a book by its cover". Sure Carl is cooler than Earl now, but the way I see it, Carl is cool just because he spends a lot of his time trying to be cool. See, Earl might have a boring, not-so-popular life right now, but ask yourself "Is Carl really the type of person I'd like to be?"

    Let me point out what Earl does so different than Carl:

1. Gets up early: Earl gets up at 5 in the morning, sleeps at 11. Generally, people wake up at 7-8. So Earl has 2-3 hours extra every day. 2 hours every day equals 14 hours a week. 14 hours a week equals to 56 hours a month. 56 hours a month eqyals to 672 hours a year. 672 hours equals 28 days. So Earl has 13 months a year while the average Joes have 12 months.
2. Reads books: Reading books is geeky? NO! Reading books is the best habbit a person can have. I'll lay it out simple, an author generally takes a year or more to write a book, right? If you read a book a week, or even a month (if you're not a vivid reader), you will get a year worth of knowledge withing a week or so. Now that is mindblowing! Remember, "Empty vessels make much noise".
3. Listens more: Listening is the most essential skill, and is a must. Listening not only improves your communication skills, but also makes you wiser and smarter. Listening to people teaches you, you can learn from the stories of others. Listen more, listen to podcasts, listen to the news, listen to your loved ones, listen to your parents, listen. We have two ears, and one mouth, we can shut our mouth, but not our ears. Figure out why is that so.
4. Just does it: Earl just does it. He doesn't wait for the right time, he doesn't wait for others. Earl met his present girlfriend in his math class in highschool. Unlike Carl, Earl didn't stalk, didn't wait. Earl just had the balls to man up and ask her out, and he did and now they're happier than ever. Earl loves his girlfriend for who he is when she's with him.
5. Has goals: Earl has goals, he doesn't wait. He doesn't wish, he plans.

    Carl, if he lives the way he's living, will never have what Earl has. But if he takes control of his life, mans up and says "NO" to meaningless things in life, wouldn't that be the turning point of his life? It's never too late to take control, you just have to get started.

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