Average Vs. Exceptional
The 3 Factors that Separate Participants from Spectators

There’s no shortage in the world of people who are willing to settle for less than they’re capable of achieving, and our culture seems designed to make this settling not only accepted, but the norm. Advice like “Take it easy” and “Don’t work too hard” are meant to be friendly sentiments, but the message behind those phrases can derail our efforts to attain success if we take them to heart.

It’s easier to go along with the flow than to put in the extra work. The path of least resistance is much easier to take but it leads to only one destination: THE WORLD OF THE AVERAGE.

We Don’t Want to Be Average.

Only by challenging ourselves can we learn what we’re truly capable of achieving. Only by pushing ourselves past what we think we can do will we see true growth. When we live an “average” life, getting “average” results, we are leaving so much on the table. Our potential will be wasted, and we — and the world — will never know what we could have accomplished.

In speaking to my mentors about this thought, there was a recurring fear we all have: the fear of regret. When we look back on our lives, the last thing we want to see are missed opportunities we were too fearful or lazy to take. We don’t want to say, “I could have,” or “I should have.” There may be disappointments and failures along the way, but if our mistakes were made while trying to accomplish something that would make a difference in our lives or the lives of those around us, they won’t be mistakes. They were opportunities to learn. They were first steps into a larger world. They will not be regrets.

So, what makes the difference between “Average” and “Excellence”? My mentors and I believe three elements allow us to rise above mediocre results: It takestraining, effort and mindset.

Training
Think about your favorite sports team or athlete. When game day comes, do you think they’ve sat around hoping they’re going to win? Of course not.They have Practiced, Learned Strategies and put in the Effort to bechampions.

No matter what we’re attempting to do, we need to train our minds, bodies and hearts to be ready for challenges. One of the differences between those who achieve and those who cling to the sidelines is that active participants have prepared themselves long before the opportunity arises. They’ve done the research. They’ve gathered and inventoried their resources. They’ve asked themselves tough questions and have come up with high-quality answers. They’ve got a plan. They know what their made of. They’ve discovered their weaknesses, worked around them and turned them into strengths. They’ve received coaching from mentors and other trusted sources. They are ready because they’ve trained. When the time comes to put in the work, they know that energy will not be wasted, but will be put to its best use.

Effort
There’s truth to the phrase, “Work smarter, not harder.” That’s part of what training is all about.

But how much more can we accomplish if we work smarter and harder?

People who achieve great things are almost always the hardest workers in the room. They have a plan and they’ve done their research, but when it comes time to meet the challenge, they put their heads down and push forward with the grit needed to excel. They put in the hours. They put in the effort. They put their heart, mind, soul, blood, sweat and muscle into the task at hands and don’t stop until they see the results they desire.

Win or lose, fail or succeed, when we leave it all out on the field, we can rest at the end of the day with the knowledge that we gave our all.There’s no substitute for giving something 100 percent of our effort. Anything less and we will have regrets, wondering what our results could have been if we’d tried just a little harder every day.

Mindset
When we set out to do something, especially if it’s an endeavor or activity we’ve never done before, there’s an element of risk involved. What at stake might be different depending on the activity — we could be putting our money, time, energy, and/or reputation on the line — but at the root level there’s always an emotional component. If there’s a possibility of failure — meaning we might not achieve what we’ve set out to do — then there’s the chance our self-esteem might take a hit. We’ll risk looking foolish. We’ll worry that people will lose respect for us. We’ll fear losing what we have if we try for something more.

People who excel in lifeFight that Fear.

“Playing it safe” can sound like good advice, but when we fear risks, we’re setting a path toward “average.” When we enter into what can be an uncertain plan of action, it pays to have thought things through as best as we can and educate ourselves to what we might face — we don’t want to jump out of a plane hoping we have a parachute. However, if we only act when there’s a 100 percent chance of success, we won’t be doing much with our time, and we won’t achieve much with our lives.

The best way to defeat fear is to face it. We often dread the idea of failure to the point that the fear of it becomes worse than the failure itself. If the worst happens, the vast majority of the time we can learn from the experience, dust ourselves off and try again. The more we put ourselves out there, the easier it becomes to move past the fear and get on with the business of living.

Putting It All Together
It’s easy to be a bystander in life, watching others attempt to do the difficult or “impossible.” By taking the mindset that we are active participants in our own lives, however, and then training for success and putting in the effort, we set an example for those around us. We will win at times, and we will have setbacks, but our spirit won’t know the slow death of living the “average” life when we set out to achieve something spectacular.

About the Author: Chris Saraceno is the Author of The TheoryOf5 and Vice President/Partner of the Kelly Automotive Group. Founder of www.dealerElite.com ,Chris is constantly sharing best business practices through speaking engagements, conventions, articles, blogs etc..

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