You are mediocre, and here's why you should embrace it!
Some of you are probably already thinking I’m crazy just by reading the title of this post.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Aren’t you supposed to be telling us that we can do anything as long as we set our minds to it? My mama always tells me that I’m the best and the smartest at everything I do!”
Yes, and no. Your mama tells you that because she loves you, but love doesn’t make fiction a reality.
I am a firm believer that hard work and persistence pays off, but if you have dreams of becoming the next best basketball player or whatever else it is you wanna do, that's not gonna happen.
Wait, don't dismiss me just yet! It's nothing personal, and it's perfectly understandable why everyone thinks like that.
Why everyone thinks they can only be amazing or complete dogshit at whatever they do
Well, there’s a very logical reason for this. In short, it’s because of today’s culture. Everything revolves around this thing called pop culture, and social media.
Think about this for a moment. Wherever you go on the internet, the news you read, the videos you watch, the stories that appear in your Facebook news feed. When was the last time you read or watched something about an average person?
We are so used to seeing incredible feats performed by the most beautiful and talented people, or people who are so ridiculously bad at doing something that it’s just downright hilarious, that we kind of forget that there is an in-between.
We only see stories that display the extreme of what’s good and what’s bad. So much so that we completely dismiss the idea that average people do exist, and that most people are average at most of the things that they attempt to do. This is a reality, but we somehow think otherwise because of the media.
What does adopting this mentality mean for us?
We become extra sensitive to our failures and develop an unreal expectation for constant success. After being exposed to genius 16 year old millionaires, and attractive, talented musicians, we start to think that we have to be like them or we’re big fat failures.
Well, I’m not saying that everyone doesn’t acknowledge the existence of mediocrity.
All I’m saying is that because of all the media we are exposed to, it causes us to sometimes subconsciously beat ourselves up too hard for our failures or lack of success, or even worse, we are afraid to try because we're scared of being made into a meme or a laughing stock.
Even when it comes to aesthetics. Especially with all the K-Pop craze going on, netizens and followers of these idols and groups develop very unrealistic standards for beauty. We are shown all these attractive people on TV, YouTube, and social media, and we start to think that we can’t be beautiful if we don’t look exactly like them.
BUT think about this for a moment
We don’t realize the kind of effort that some of these people put into their craft, or what they look like underneath all the makeup, because we only watch their one moment of glory that was recorded and shared all over the internet.
Very much like movie stars. They work on a film for months and even years, just for that 1 or 2 hours when the movie is finally screened.
Sure, some people might be geniuses or just naturally that beautiful, but there’s no doubt in my mind that they still put in a ton of effort to get to where they are today.
Social media makes it so easy to share content like videos and stories. Just a click of a button and everyone in your friends list will see what you were laughing at just seconds ago.
"Let's share this boring and uninteresting video"
- No One Ever
That’s what makes viral marketing so effective. 1 person shares with 10 friends, which is then shared with 100 friends, and naturally, we would only want to share the best or the worst content.
So embrace it, your mediocrity!
Of course, I'm sure there are some things you excel at, but it's not possible to be the best at everything you do, so just do what you want. Try new things, and don't be afraid to share your stories or talents.
It’s perfectly normal to be bad or average at certain things. Only by accepting that you are average at most of the things you will ever attempt to do, will you then be able to make progress in those areas of your life where you are lacking.
I personally believe that perfectionism is unhealthy. No offence to any perfectionists reading this right now. Especially if you believe in the 80/20 rule, where most of your results come from a small part of your efforts.
Think of it this way, it’s not as productive to spend all your time trying to perfect a single blog post on Steemit when you can spend that time posting 10 more mediocre/decent articles and maybe have 1 of them turn out to be a big hit, and then you can spend more time polishing that one up.
There is a sea of information on the net, and as the pioneer consumers of this amazing technological advancement, it’s only natural that we find ourselves lost in it at times.
“And where does the newborn go from here? The net is vast and infinite.”
- Motoko Kusanagi
The only way you can grow and make progress is by first accepting yourself for who you are.
Let me know what you think, and as always, if you enjoy my content, you can support me by upvoting or following me.
to me it's all about moderation :) even your ambition should be moderated, otherwise you can never feel happy about your achievements. Great article, thanks!
you are right! ambition is good, but it's important to keep yourself grounded. but i suppose it's natural for me to say that since i'm a realist.
thank you for reading, and i appreciate the feedback! :)
Firstly, i want to say, i know who's your girlfriend now. Emma Watson!!! 😂😂😂 2ndly, in pop culture, at least the American pop culture, which has penetrated almost the whole world, they do have many shows about average Joes, especially the sitcoms. 3rdly, the main takeaway for me is that, it's important and wise to "know thyself", have a realistic yet healthy outlook on life and people, and go from there.
i was such a huge fan of harry potter when i was in my teens. i must have read the entire series 3 times over! emma watson played the role of hermione perfectly! it was fun watching her grow and mature through the movie series, if only she would notice me :'(
you got the main point of my post! it's important to "know yourself" and also understand how the media works, so you don't adopt unrealistic expectations of yourself or those around you.
Very enjoyable read. Thanks!
thank you for reading it! and i'm glad you enjoyed it. definitely spurs me on to make more content like this :)
That's the beauty of steemit! I've never felt more encouraged to write and pursue photography in my life. I think steemit is changing the lives of a lot of creative people.
Steemit is great because I can earn as I learn. Even if the price of steem goes to 0.05$, I will have still improved my skills. So it's a win no matter what.
exactly! i think it's a very conducive environment for anyone to just do and share whatever it is they wanna do. you'll stand to gain even if you're not making much money. plus you get the chance to network and make new friends!
Thank for the advises and giving a light to follow. This keeps me motivated to move on.
glad that my post had made a small impact on you. i'll follow you and looking forward to your next post! don't give up, and keep going!
As a recovering perfectionist, I find this backwards advice refreshing lol. Not the sort of thing you normally read online xD
to be honest, i thought that writing such "controversial" articles would attract more attention, but it doesn't seem to working out at the moment. i guess people on steemit like reading more regular stuff :p
thanks for reading and the resteem. i'm glad you enjoyed it!
This post received a 2.3% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @nnnhhh! For more information, click here!
thanks, you have motivated us, the community of steemit, to be mediocre at best!!!
i think you missed the point of the article, but thank you for your upvote and sarcastic comment nonetheless!!!
i don't think that I've missed it. Even though it's full of wisdom, it's full of wisdom that most have thought of in their life. Sadly, as we probably both know, we live in a world that feeds up on peoples insecurities and even monetizes them. aaand we're probably all broken as we won't stop comparing each other to the seemingly perfect and flawless people like Michael Jordan, Bob Marley, Fidel Castro.
you are absolutely right, which is exactly why i am trying to show others why it doesn't make sense to be insecure when most people are average, and it's highly likely that you're neither better nor worse at doing something than your next door neighbour (unless it's something you specialize in). it's irrational to compare yourself to great people, and then proceed to feel bad about yourself because you feel that they or their achievements are so far out of reach.
so everyone should just go ahead and do/share whatever they want instead of being irrationally insecure. maybe it's hard to do on regular social media where everything is just a big circle jerk, but on steemit where the community is so supportive, this is more than possible.
however, here on steemit, i've encountered many who are still afraid to share their stories or talents. this is funny because you say that "most have thought of it in their life", but if this is common knowledge, then wouldn't you think that people would be less scared of being ridiculed now? which obviously isn't the case in our current society.
The fact that most have thought about it doesn't meant that most have acknowledged it or learned how to live with that piece of information.
But of course I agree - comparing yourself to people ridiculously better or ridiculously worse at something than you is pointless, as it either leads to anxiety or false, arrogant and hollow feeling of superiority.
also, I think the term circlejerk can be applied just as well to steemit, because it's a happy place where everyone is polite to each other, as nobody wants to be downvoted.
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Nice ghost in the shell reference there
love that series. must have watched it at least 3 times now :)
I'm special I'm unique I can be anything I will succed
that's the spirit!
I love you man you are my role model