Mediocrity is a disease; a plague that is infesting a lot of people much more than any other disease ever known to man. In a world where sex is fast becoming the cheapest commodity, I am beginning to think that mediocrity is even cheaper than sex. This disease called mediocrity has infected a lot of people but they just don’t know because they don’t know the signs. The objective of this note is to make us become aware of this disease and offer possible remedies towards getting cured of the disease.

Mediocrity is a disease of the mind and because the mind is the power house of the human system, once it is infected with the disease, it reflects on everything the person does, but he or she does not recognize it as it becomes their default state. The person develops a mediocre mindset that takes a toll in every area of the person’s life for as a man thinketh in his heart so is he.

The mediocre mind believes everything is okay the way it is. He does not see any need to improve on what is, “After all life is short,” he says to himself, “why bother?” If the world had been filled with only people with mediocre minds since creation we would still have leaves around our loins. But thank God there have always been a few who don’t settle for average. Once mediocrity takes a hold on the mind of any person, it begins to affect his vision, his language, his choices, and ultimately his acts.

In his vision he begins to see through dark colored lenses. Things become very dark in his eyes that he finds it hard to believe that lighting a candle will ever make any difference. “The world is evil, there is nothing we can do about it anymore.” He convinces himself. It’s because of the dark colored lens through which he sees. He forgets that just last week someone forgot a Blackberry Torch in a cab and the cab driver returned the phone to the person. For the mediocre mind such acts are too insignificant to count.

Spend some time with the mediocre mind and what you will hear is, “I work with an oil firm, I earn a good pay, have a beautiful wife, live in nice apartment and drive a good car. That is enough for me.” All he is concerned about is how to maintain his present status for the rest of his life. He has no plan to reach for more neither does he have any plan to affect the lives of other people and make them better. He has not been called to solve the problems of this world; his is more than enough for him.

When the mediocre mind has to choose between two options he looks for the easier of the two. He is always aiming for the minimum requirement. “Half bread is better than none.” He says to himself. He goes for the half bread because it is free. He does not know that with just a little bit of effort he could actually have learnt how to bake all by himself and will no longer be looking for hand-outs. He does not want any inconvenience, “Anytime I wake up is my morning,” you will always hear him say. So he waits till he is 60 before he starts going after goals his mates achieved when they were in their 40’s.

If you are of the mediocre mind this is your future: You have none. Yes, you have no future. The world does not have a place for mediocre minds. The mediocre mind only exists, he does not live. And people who just exist don’t have a future. Their names will never be remembered because all their lives they were spectators. They never got into the ring. And spectators don’t win trophies. It would have been better if the mediocre mind had never been born.

But all hope is not lost, this is the good news. When people know better, they do better. You can still be cured of that disease. You can fight your way out. You can still make a difference. You need to understand that the man who starts at step zero and dies at step three is far better than the man who started at step five and dies at step five. Excellence is not a destination; it is a journey of continuous improvement. And that is the decision you must make today.

You must stop thinking the way the world thinks. You must stop seeing things the way the world sees things. You must stop talking the way the world talks and stop making decisions based on the value system of this world. The crowd always want you to go with them but they are not going anywhere themselves.

The beautiful part of this journey is that the starting line is right where you are. Start where you are with what you have. All you have to do is believe. Believe that things can be different and they will. Take a look around you right now; everything you see came to be because someone believed that it was possible. That mindset created everything you see around you.

Remember, those who accept things the way they are will never be remembered because they have the mediocre mind. Don’t be one of them.

The one whom Jesus loves,
Mute Efe,
+234-803-874-9796 (SMS Only)
www.facebook.com/mutehimself

N.B
A special weekend session of School for Personal Leadership (SPL) will hold during the last two weekends of the month of August, 2012, Saturdays and Sundays. To participate, first, add me as friend on facebook, the class holds online on facebook. Then text WSPL*Surname*First Name*Sex*Name of Institution or Occupation (if working)*State of Residence*Country of Residence*Email Address*GSM Number to +234-803-874-9796. Please go to my timeline to read the full details about the school. Fee is N3,750 if you reside in Nigeria and US$30 if you reside outside Nigeria. Registration ends on the 17th of August. In SPL, there are no exams and no certificates, what you learn is what you take away.