Eugene Moreau - Defeating the Enemy Called Average

 Read more articles by Eugene Moreau.

Why would anyone settle for being average?

Is it fear? Would someone settle for average because they are afraid of being noticed…… afraid to stand out from the crowd? Maybe they settle for average because a long time ago they tried not to be average and their friends or other people they knew shot down them down and told them to stop trying to be someone they weren’t. They decided to just settle for average…… after all, average is safe isn’t it? Average means not getting hurt…… right?

Maybe they settle for average because they don’t know any different. Perhaps they were raised by parents who didn’t believe in anything other than average…..so to be average is normal. Average is the way they’ve always lived their life so they see no real need or value in changing now. Average is just finer thank you!

HEY!! WAKE UP!!

Settling for average is like an emotional cancer attacking our society. If we settle for average then we settle for a world where excellence, accountability and significance don’t exist!

Average is our enemy not our friend. Average is like the colour beige, a colour that is in between…..it’s a nothing colour with zero personality……it can’t claim to be black or white! That’s what average is like – it’s neither black nor white.

People who settle for average often find themselves living in an environment of blame, excuses and avoidance. George Washington Carver once said “Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.” This is the result of settling for average.

In my mind, settling for being average is one of the most toxic diseases we have in society. The residue of being average leaves a person feeling like they don’t matter, like they are not important and this means average becomes a way of life, a mindset, a belief system, passed down generational lines, like an inheritance or a legacy of doom. Can you imagine what it would be like to be left the inheritance of simply being average?  A person who settles for being average say’s things like……“It makes no difference how I perform; I’ll be just like everyone else…….I’ll be average!”

Ok. Let me bring it a little closer to home. Imagine you own a business and you’ve worked really hard, with much sacrifice over the last 15 years to build a brand and reputation for producing excellence in service delivery.

One day one of your employees walks up to you and says, “Hey boss. I think today we should settle for being just like everyone else. We should just be average! Let’s not stand out from the competition, After all, why should we work so hard to be excellent, exceptional, unique, a stand-out? Why should we try and be 1% better? Average is ok isn’t it? Who really cares anyway? Either people will buy from us or they won’t. So, today, I think we should just be average.”

Let me tell you how I would react. Once I’ve been discharged from hospital due to my blood pressure soaring to completely unnatural heights, I would start looking for a way to defeat this enemy of my business, this business-death in disguise, this virile infection of an attitude that would run through and infect all of my employees and bring disaster to all the hard work and sacrifice I’d lead to bring my business to where was.  I would start an immediate war against the enemy called average and I would completely eradicate it from my business, or die trying!

Being significant is the direct opposite of being average. So, how do we become significant? How do we shift our focus from ‘settling for average’ to ‘being significant’?

The principles of significance do not recognise gender or ethnicity, nor age. You can be a teenager or a grandparent. You can be employed or unemployed. You can be a business owner or a university student. It makes little difference as to who you are because when you embrace the principles of significance, and there are only four of them, you will defeat the enemy called average! (The four principles for defeating the enemy called average are: Be Focused. Be Dedicated, Be Disciplined, Be Authentic.)

This series will help you defeat the enemy called average no matter who you are. You can be an entrepreneur, an employee, a hard working mum or dad who raises the family at home…… or maybe you are someone who has reached the wonderful stage of life where you no longer have to work and you’ve made the decision to enjoy the fruit of your many years of labour.

Next week we explore the first principle of defeating the enemy called average, Be Focused.

Until next week,

Eugene Moreau
unlocking vision. inspiring passion.

For more of Eugene’s writings and information please visit www.eugenemoreau.com

Read Part One  - Being Focused
Read Part Two - Pursue a Worthwhile Mission
Read Part Three - Replace Hope With Purpose
Read Part Four - Stay On Track

Published 17th Dec 2008

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