Sometime last year, I read a quote that I thought deeply about, and it went : “You cannot expect greatness from a soul that is satisfied with mediocrity”. It wasn’t until recently I understood fully the message the writer was trying to pass across . This wasn’t about motivation or discipline or consistency, it was a matter of identity.
Great people identify as great and with greatness, mediocre people identify as mediocre and with mediocrity. Identity first, then the rest character traits follow along.
Of course I could add nuance to my statement by adding that different people can define what greatness means to them, but man cannot evolve beyond his character. We all want to be great in a certain way. We all want to be the best at what we do.
One striking example of this is the distinction between 'A' students and 'C' students in a class. The 'C' student is happy with just crossing 50, the 'A' student will fall into an existential crisis if he doesn’t top the class. The 'A' student ends up topping the class not because of motivation or discipline but because that is what he identifies as, he sees himself as someone who should be topping his class. With this predefined identity, it becomes easier for him to do the required work necessary to top the class.
It is also why it’s easier to become successful when you stay around successful people. We adopt the values and identity of people we spend the most time with and overtime we identify with what they identify as, in this case success or greatness.
If you are struggling with mediocrity like me, it is with great sadness I have to inform you that unfortunately I do not have the answers, but I do have an idea that could help us all:
First of all, understand that imbibing a somewhat new identity is mostly a subconscious activity and like most subconscious activities runs almost entirely on auto pilot. We have to correct it with actions, intentional action. Simply saying words of affirmation to your mirror self every morning wouldn’t cut it. You have to act out greatness. Start from small tasks, aim to be the best in a test, to write better posts, to meet all your deadlines. Start from small. Also be intentional about being great.
I do not have all the answers but I derived a lot of pleasure writing this, if you did same while reading this please let me know your thoughts. If you have answers please share in the comments so we can all learn. Thank you.