Cardinals of Mediocrity- Josoft blog

Cardinals of Mediocrity:

Mediocrity is a region bordered on the north by compromise, on the south by indecision, on the east by past thinking and on the west by a lack of vision. – John Mason

I hope I was able to capture John Mason’s quote sufficiently in the design. Mediocrity is simply what John says it is; there is a striking factor amongst  the four cardinals. They all point to the average lifestyle – a manageable existence. We need to constantly stretch ourselves and our capacity to the next level. Let me explain John Mason’s words:

1. A lack of vision is a case of mediocrity where one is comfortable with the status quo. This is evident when we surround ourselves only with people that we are better than; people who don’t cause us to think that we can do better, can become and achieve more. At that level, we stay motionless allowing more ambitious and purposeful minds to get ahead of us.

“Who you hang out with determines what you dream about and what you collide with.
And the collisions and the dreams lead to your changes.
And the changes are what you become.” – Seth Godin

2. Past thinking refers to our continuously brooding over the stumbling blocks of yesterday instead of turning them into stepping stones for future purpose. Past thinking gives us excuses not to believe that we can stretch ourselves further and attain more than we think is possible. I read from Seth Godin’s blog that “The best you can hope for isn’t”.

3. Indecision is an insidious element that slowly and subtly holds on to the brakes of the remarkable in our lives. Many of us don’t know the kind of person we want to marry; it’s not that we don’t know, we just won’t take out time to think and be decisive about our lives. We are not even sure what our values and principles are; so we fall for anything. A popular quote states that if a man does not know where he is going, any road will do. Running from decisions is tantamount to inviting mediocrity.

4. Compromise. Often times we know what we should do and what is right to take us to were we want to be, but we always want a bargain. Our older folks always advise that there is no short cut to any place worth going. Take a look at our educational system in Nigeria especially the tertiary level; it is the perfect definition of mediocrity. Compromising standards to the point where it becomes the norm, is what has made our educational system one of the very worst in Africa. Fight compromise in you life and dealings or it will keep your potential rooted to one spot.