“If
any of you have a desire to be mediocre, you will probably find that you have
already achieved your ambition.” -- Hugh B. Brown
I like quotes that point us
to look in a mirror and check ourselves. I think this quote does that
extremely well. I once heard someone say, “No one wakes up one day and
decides to be mediocre…it happens in small unnoticeable steps…” How
true! Have you ever known someone that was always “on their game,” but
one day you stopped and looked and said “what happened? They just seem to
getting by now or phoning it in.” It might be that teacher that says
something like “oh I would’ve done that a few years ago, but I am done with all
that extra stuff now,” or “you get the paid the same to be mediocre.”
But, what was the bridge from passion to mediocrity? That is the true
magic ticket to be able to see the signs.
That bridge is paved with
conscious choices to take the easy way. Little things turn into
patterns… How many of us were told by our parents that “the easy
way and the right way are rarely the same.” -- Annoying cliché to a teen,
I know, but very true. We have choices that seem to have no immediate
consequence, so we chose the easy way…do that enough, and you crossed the
bridge to the land of mediocrity. Scary.
As we approach a weekend, I
hope everyone has some time for reflection. Think about things that have
“gotten away from you” over time because of little choices that were made along
the way. No one can make you great or make you care….only you have that
power. I think every one of our students wants to go home feeling
special, and that they were engaged and driven by someone with passion.
It is April…passion is a dwindling resource…think of what you can do personally
to bring more into your work and your life.
I hope that we don’t settle
for mediocrity personally or professionally. I look forward to all the
great things that are still to come this year.
Happy Friday!
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