Successful people read. If you look at characteristics of successful people (e.g., Mark Cuban, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey), one habit they all share is reading. Not only do they love to read, but they also understand the power of knowledge. Bill Gates reads one book a week. Warren Buffett reads five hours a day. Mark Cuban reads three hours a day. Oprah Winfrey writes books, publishes, and is a voracious reader herself. When Bill Gates was asked what superpower he would choose if he could have just one, he responded that he would love to have the power to be able to read faster. Why all the reading? Because they know the power of knowledge.
If you’re not where you want to be in life with regards to your goals or dreams, it’s because you are not moving forward. How are you acquiring the necessary knowledge to get you there? Do you think that you have some type of limitation – some type of disability? Born on the wrong side of the street? Wrong gender? Wrong ethnicity? Wrong size? Shape? Form? Color?
It doesn’t really matter what the excuse is. Whatever excuse you want to use – born with a silver spoon in your mouth, come from a foreign country, whatever it is. Think of the excuse you use for yourself; there are tons of them. Join the pity party, join the crowd.
There are two lines in life. One line is very long and the other very short. The long line consists of people who want to be successful, have financial freedom, etc. That line of “wants” is super long. The short line is made up of those who are willing to work for it. There are fewer people who are willing to put in the effort to work toward their success. The average person stops when it gets hard.
There is resistance in everything we do. Without resistance there’s no growth. But when that resistance raises its head, most people will pull back. They feel it’s a sign to change course or that it’s simply a failure. Maybe they try it and do well for a little while, but when the next challenge comes and beats them down, they stop getting back up. Then they just reset themselves back into averageness or mediocrity.
Why do we use the word average? Think about it. Average… that’s like everybody else, right? Like the average of this, the common mean… the average. We kind of surrender ourselves to being amongst the majority. The majority are the average. Well, I’m an average guy. I’m not low, I’m not high, just average. It’s like that’s almost a sense of complacency.
We should strive to be above average. We should strive to be superior to average. Do you think we were put on this earth and made by a grand Creator to be average? Do you think that He said, “I now put you here on this earth and I want you to be average?” No! Just like any parent would want their children to succeed – to become the best version of themselves – I believe our Creator wants us to be the same. He has entitled us and endowed us with great gifts – gifts that we can recognize, unlock, find, develop, and use for the benefit of others.
If our true goal is to help the people around us, we in turn will benefit from it because our intention is pure. But when we allow negativity to come in and disrupt us, it knocks us down, we lower our bar of expectations (our standard) and become average. Is that really what you want out of life? To not make any waves or do anything big?
We’re afraid! We look for excuses to justify our inadequacies and our inability to do something. Maybe it’s not even an inability, maybe it’s just laziness. We just don’t want to do it. It’s too hard. But we would like to, so we dream. We dream about what it would be like if we were financially free or if we were following our passion or in great physical shape. We dream, we fantasize, and it remains a dream.
Dreamers don’t ever get things done. The dream must be followed by work. Workers get things done. Creating a work ethic will make your dreams come true. There is a saying: “Successful people are those who are willing to do those things that others won’t do.” Successful people want to have something today that others don’t have. It’s all about the work.
If you’re not where you want to be, then determine what you need to do to get there. It’s all about what you decide for yourself, what you’re willing to live with. Are you willing to live with mediocrity and being average, or are you tired of that? Today is the day. Tomorrow doesn’t exist. Today exists. Don’t put it off for tomorrow. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t live in the past. Don’t let the past define you. Don’t let your past write your life story.
Start today on that path that will lead you to what you are meant to be. You have it within you. Find it. Nurture it. And watch how things will change for you. Remember, success is never an accident.
