28. Leadership: Pain Point - Mediocrity

Foreign. Hey, my friend, welcome back to leadership in a nutshell where we're cracking the code of that driven mind that you and I have both been gifted with. It's not a curse, it is a gift. This is episode number 28 where we're talking about pain point number three, mediocrity. And I'm going to kind of tie up our few episodes here together where we were talking about different pain points. So, you know, we talked about the pain of discipline, we've talked about the pain of regret. And today I want to kind of put a bow on this little segment, if you will, around mediocrity and why mediocrity can be and is usually so painful. And, you know, I kind of want to kick off today by thinking about a quote. We all know the Beach Boys, we love the music. They were just one of the great feel good bands. They really changed the game when they came onto the scene. And, you know, I think about a quote that I read by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys when he said, beware of the lollipop of mediocrity. Lick it once and you'll suck forever. So I'm not here to talk about how you might suck at something, although one of the things that I do say to my team and my clients is I would truly rather completely suck at something than be mediocre at it. I just, I get frustrated with just kind of my average. I want to talk more about here today. I want you to think about your own average and, and how this might show up. So, you know, what, what is your average in the world? How. How are you showing up at what that looks like and how is that based? As a business leader, do you, do you look at. Well, I have an average size team, I have an average amount of revenue. We're in the industry averages of profitability? Or do you look at it of what you can actually produce, what your team is actually capable, what your market will actually sustain. How does this look? Because people that change the game, change the world, challenge their own mediocrity. I'm not talking about the world's mediocrity. I'm not talking about the world's average, my friends. I'm talking about your own level of mediocrity. When are you being mediocre versus when are you showing up at the highest level, playing full out and giving the world, your team, yourself, your family, the very best that you have within you? That becomes the question, what creates your average? When is it that you're not showing up at the highest level, digging a little bit deeper, becoming the greatest version of yourself possible. Now, I don't want this to seem tireless or impossible. I just want you to realize that you're here to grow. The whole point of being on this earth, being alive at this space and time, is to become the greatest version of yourself. And if you get sucked into mediocrity, it's kind of like, like Brian Wilson's quote, lick it once and you'll suck forever. You don't want that. I don't want that for you. And that's why we're spending this time together. It recently really hit me when I, I went in for a big panel of blood work or whatever, right? I go to the doctor, they do this big panel of blood work. I sit down with, with my doctor and she's talking to me and explaining, you know, where my levels are. Here's what your cholesterol, here's your hormone level here, thyroid level, all these different things. What was fascinating to me is how she talked about the different labs, have their, quote, put it in air quotes. We're listening here together, the averages. Okay, so here's the range is what they call it in blood work, right? So here's the low side, here's the high side. So as long as you're in that, quote, average, then you're going to be okay. Now, I happen to work with more of a naturalist physician, and she really takes more of a natural path. I'm going to live a very, very long time, so I must play the game different than the average age. If I'm going to smoke the average age, which I'm going to live almost twice the average age, then I've got to do some things differently. And as we were having this conversation and talking about it, I laugh because people call me crazy. You might be shaking your head right now as you're driving down the street or working out in the gym, wherever. We get to share this time together today. That's okay. You laugh at me and I'll continue to laugh while I'm alive and enjoying this life. But here's the reality, she says, you know, there's these averages, Kenny, and what happens is they change every year. They get adjusted. So what does that mean? The way the averages were for things that we measured 30, 40, 50 years ago, even 100 years ago, that has changed based on what? The blood draws that they do, based on the average of the human population, based on the aver of people's levels of health, though, so they continue to Skew and change and alter what the graph looks like or where the averages are. And that is asinine to me. And I went, well, wait a minute. I. I don't want to be the average. Would you not agree that most people in the U. S. Canada and Australia are pretty sick? We could even lump in, you know, Europe into that. Most of our listeners are in the U. S, Canada and Australia. Wherever you're listening, look around you. Most people are not mentally stable and healthy at the highest level. They're not wealthy and feeding their families and their. Their own careers and their games at the highest level that they can. They're eating crap and putting crap in their food. They're not exercising and taking care of themselves. I don't want to play that average. I want to play my average, and then I want to improve my average. So I want you to think about where you're drawing the line of mediocrity. What does that look like? Because here's what I'll tell you for sure, my friend. And I want you to think about this. If you're in a place, write this down. Effective leaders are not mediocre. You're on this time together with me because you're a leader, because you lead people. You lead your family, you lead your church, you lead your community, whatever it is. You cannot be mediocre and be incredibly effective. Why? Because people are looking to you to help them. Not to go do it for him or motivate them, put that in air quotes. But they're looking to you to create an environment for them to motivate themselves. And what's fascinating is where we let ourselves off the hook, where mediocrity shows up. And a lot of people kind of want to downplay. You know, I believe that I can accomplish anything in the world as long as I don't specifically have to do it. What does that mean? You're listening to it right now. I get to come in the studio and record our time together. And that is the last time I touch this podcast. It goes to my team. They edit it, they break it up, they slice dice, change audio, whatever they do to it, then they go ahead and publish it. They get it out there so you can enjoy listening together. I don't want to do all those other things. I want to do this right here. I want to connect with you at a human level. That's what I'm on the planet for. Other people are on the planet to help out and to do those different things. That's what it's all about. And yet people downplay that. I remember I was at a seminar back when we had live seminars. Hopefully we get back there soon. But I was talking about Richard Branson, and somebody said, oh, well, Branson, he's a playboy. He does this, he does that. He has a whole team. You don't understand, Kenny. I can't do that because he has a team of people. And I went, you know, think about that. Think about what you're telling yourself right now. You have to stay mediocre because you're measuring yourself against Richard Branson. Now, I don't care about anything that Richard Branson does or doesn't do. I'm not him. I'm not looking for him to lead me, but I am looking at different mirrors. And it's fascinating. When I was watching an interview of him, and the person interviewing him said, you know, Richard, when's the last time that you did your own laundry? And he said, huh, you know, I've never done my. I've never done my own laundry. I mean, when I was a kid. He's from England. He's like, when I was a kid, my mom did my laundry, right? He's like, yeah, I don't do my laundry. I grew up, I got older. I got into business. I have people that do my laundry. I. That challenges some of you. I'm sure that, you know, what does that mean? He's not cleaning his own house. Why do I know that? Because the next thing he said, how about this, Richard? When's the last time you went to the grocery store? And Branson kind of thought for a moment, and he said, you know, I don't think I've ever been to the grocery store and think about that. I mean, the lovely Christy and I, we actually like to go to grocery stores when we're traveling and see new products and how people are doing different things and merchandising. I like the grocery store. However, Branson's like, why would I do that? I'm going to do something that I want to do. That's my mediocrity. I don't want to go shopping. I can have someone else do that so I can step into my greatness and play that game. I just want you to think about that. I love when John Maxwell, many of you are Maxwell followers, and I'm a fan of Maxwell as well. And I love when, you know, people come up to us when we're doing us. Like, I'm on. On his stage. I'm not on his stage yet, but I'm coming for you, John. I'm coming for you. I'm teaching leadership and I'm resonating with my heart, right? But here's the reality. Any of us that speak and do seminars and live events and things, oftentimes people come up and go, man, I want to do what you do. I'd love to do what you do for a living. And I loved when Maxwell turns to participants that says that. And he says, really? Okay, here's the question. Are you willing to do daily what I've done every single day for the last 50 years in order to get to do what you see me doing today? Think about that, my friend. See, we have our own mediocrity, and then when we break out, we want it to happen immediately. You go, man, I know. I want to be at Maxwell level. I want to author millions and millions of books that get sold, or I want to author a few books that sell millions of copies. I guess I want to have the top leadership podcast in the world. I want to have a following that I can influence and impact. But I've only been doing this podcast for six months now, or whatever it's been, right? I've got to put in my time. We've got to share our time. You've got to help me by sharing this. There's a little Hope and wish plug, by the way. Share this if you're getting value. But that's the reality, is you got to do it every day to continue to break your mediocrity. Here's the second thing I want to share with you, and I'll get you out of here in a moment. If you stop thinking big, you better welcome mediocrity. And my friend, when you welcome mediocrity, you are saying yes to pain. Today we're talking about that third pain point, mediocrity. You've got to step out of it. You've got to challenge it. Because when we step into a mediocre existence, everything stops. It's like cutting out the lights. It's like shutting down the lifeblood to your dreams when this must be it. This must be the average, you know, you think about. I was just talking to a client last week about, quote, unquote, midlife crisis. And what happened midlife crisis. When. And I put that in air quotes, because it's just a label, as the human brain needs to label things. So in humanity, we want to create labels for things. Oh, so. And so is having a midlife crisis. What does that mean? It means their mediocrity is sucking the life out of them. And they're waking up one day, generally in the, quote, middle of their life, going, is this it? Is this all there is for me? This is what I worked for. This is what I raised kids for. Now all of a sudden, I. Hang on, wait a minute. I was super blessed to have a lot of time with Les Brown several years ago. I did. You know what, what did we do? 15 cities and travel with him in seven months and different things. And however many cities I forget exactly. Here's what Les said. Your dream was given to you. If someone else can't see it for you, that's fine. It was given to you and not them. It's your dream. Hold it, nourish it, cultivate it. Now to save you from rewinding. Let me say that again, my friend, on behalf of my friend and mentor, Les Brown, your dream was given to you. If someone else can't see it for you, that's fine. It was given to you and not them. It's your dream. Hold it, nourish it, cultivate it. That's what happens with mediocrity. You get stuck in mediocrity because other people aren't seeing it for you. Sometimes, heck, people aren't even supporting you. You get sucked in. And all of a sudden, as Brian Wilson said, you lick that lollipop of mediocrity and now you're just sucked into it and you'll suck forever. I don't want you to suck forever. You don't want to suck forever. Mediocrity sucks, my friend. It's time to step into your greatness. Break your average, get out of your average and make it happen, my friend. I'm here for you. Anything I can do, please reach out to. I'm here to support you. Do me a favor. Share. Just send this link, email it to somebody. Copy it, text it to somebody. Share this episode Share our work together. I want to grow this community and I want all of us to challenge ourselves and step into our greatness. As my friend Les Brown talks about, this is leadership in a nutshell. It's been episode 28. I'm your host, Kenny Chapman. Get out of that pain, stop being mediocre, and embrace your very next level. Until we talk, my friend. Make it a better than fantastic day and I'll see you next week.