At some point, you have to stop making excuses about how things that have happened to you in the past prevent you from progressing.  If you’re committed to progressing, you can do it.  Too many people employ excuses as vehicles to make themselves and others feel more comfortable about being consumed by a spirit of complacency.  You should never become complacent—no matter what level of success you’ve already achieved.  Many people will look to others to have them to view their excuses and “crutches” as valid reasons for why they’re too lazy to go out and make a difference for themselves and others.  As Americans, we have to stop supporting and settling for mediocrity.

In many ways, many Americans have started to celebrate mediocrity in ways far greater than they celebrate authentic human achievements.  When this happens, it has a negative impact on the level of greatness America can experience.  For the good of our country, we have to let people know when they’re not being all they can be.  We need to stop making people who have elected to settle for mediocrity feel like they’re much more than mediocre.  The reality is mediocre people are simply mediocre.

Everyone should strive to be the best he or she can be.

Don’t simply speak and write against being mediocre and having a mediocre mentality just to attempt to make people think you’re not mediocre.  You can write and say lies—just in case you didn’t know.  Writing and speaking lies result in the same thing: lies.

Too many people are saying and writing on Facebook and Twitter that they’re “winning” when they really are losing.

Go out and make real efforts to be what you claim to be.  You will find that you will be more confident in yourself and your abilities when you stop hiding behind your lies.  There’s nothing cute, sexy, intelligent, desirable, and cool about being mediocre.  Mediocre people are non-factors; they simply don’t matter much to many people.  When you make the choice to be mediocre, your family, friends, associates, co-workers, children, and/or etc. will suffer because of you’ve made a decision to accept mediocrity.  When people assert that their mediocrity is not bothering or hurting anyone else but themselves, this is not true.

Your mediocrity impacts everyone who is situated in your milieu.

Have you ever had a lazy co-worker?  If your answer is yes, did that co-worker try to make it seem like he or she is not lazy?  Did that co-worker have an impact on you and/or the company in some detrimental way(s)?  We all have to pay for the poor choices made by mediocre people.  Don’t feel sorry for mediocre people—they’ve made the choice to be who they are.  Challenge them to become better.

For those who are not mediocre, you have a responsibility to do what’s necessary to motivate a mediocre person to change his or her ways.  You have to recognize that many mediocre people are going to reject what you say to them.  You must understand, however, that you cannot give up on your efforts to make them better people.  Our nation is a better nation when we are constantly looking for ways to improve it, and improvement of our nation begins with helping one another, especially assisting those who have surrendered efforts to make themselves better.

If you’re looking for someone to blame for your mediocrity, you don’t have to look no further than your nearest mirror.

You’re responsible for your mediocrity. Give up your mediocrity today and become the best person you can be.  The best person you can be is a person who never stops reaching higher and higher and never ceases to ameliorate himself or herself.

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison