If you don’t want to be average, you have to critically think and act in between the lines.
“Nobody reached the pinnacle of their potential by doing what everybody else did.
I don’t care what base you were born on, the plate or 3rd.
If you only do what’s acceptable by the masses standards, you will always fall short of your potential.
You’ll be average.”
-Ray Zingler on X
If you want to be like everybody else, do what everybody else does.
It’s how the law of averages works.
It’s that simple.
Do you think the best of the best are doing the bare minimum of what’s required?
Do you think they are only going to practice after school and participating in their school’s weight training class?
Of course not.
“But Ray, have you seen youth sports these days? The kids are playing at an all-time high with tournaments, showcases, and lessons galore!”
Yep, I’ve seen it.
But guess what?
The first sentence of this post, which I’ll repeat again, still reins true: If you want to be like everybody else, do what everybody else does.
If everybody else (often misguided and aimlessly) is “doing a lot” and you choose to “do a lot” too, you’ll eventually end up in the middle of the pack, or again, average.
People confuse “doing a lot” with “being effective” every day and that is precisely why most people are average, despite being busy.
The key is to view the situation from a global perspective.
“If everybody else is doing ‘x, y, & z’ and I choose to do ‘x, y, & z’ there is a strong likelihood I’ll end up just like them.” Which again, you’re probably picking up on by now, is smackdab in the middle of Mediocre-Ville.
“Yeah, but so and so does (or doesn’t do) ‘x’ and he ended up going Pro!”
Mom, Dad, Brett, & Sarah, let me just tell you, the outliers will always be outliers and outliers’ actions, or lack of action is the exception, not the rule.
But here is another fact that many outliers miss, too: Despite being able to skip out on things and get away with it, outliers may still be outliers, but even they will never reach the pinnacle of their own potential.
Said differently, even they will be less than their best.
The point I am trying to get across is this:
Think and act critically. Don’t follow the crowd.
Read, study, and act in between the lines.
Act in a way that others aren’t acting if you truly want to gain an edge.
It’s the only way to avoid being average.
