In my\u00a0high school days at St. Peter\u2019s in the Eastern Region of Ghana, one of the things we cherished as students was the headmaster\u2019s \u2018golden\u2019 handshake. This was a public acknowledgement of those who excelled in the preceding academic term.<\/p>\n
At the beginning of every term, the headmaster would conduct a grand assembly of all students and give a speech about ongoing developments in the school and his expectations of us in the new term. The highlight of his address would be to call out students who had excelled academically in various disciplines. For every discipline in all the three levels, he would mention the names of the ten best-performing students and give them a handshake in the full glare of the entire student body as well as teaching and nonteaching staff.<\/p>\n
This boosted the confidence of many of those who fell in that category. For a good number of those who were not in the top ten, they were motivated to be more diligent in their studies so they too would be recognized.<\/p>\n
In my case, I enjoyed the prestige that accompanied such recognition and it always felt good to be named among the best in an environment where academic excellence was held in very high esteem.<\/p>\n
The reality, however was that being the best among your class mates does not make you the best in the school, neither does being the best in the school makes you the best in your country or even in the world. As a matter of fact, the national and global threshold for excellence is at a much higher notch. So if you function in any sphere with the primary goal to be better than your competitors, then probably you are setting yourself for mediocrity.<\/p>\n
Mediocrity is when you benchmark your success with models that are far below the ideal standard. This angle of mediocrity becomes inevitable when you perform just to be better than your next door neighbor; and you settle comfortably at that level of success. What makes you better than your rival may not qualify as a minimum threshold in the next dimension. A situation like that could lead to your extinction.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, merely focusing on being better than somebody else would make you perform below your capacity; what you have the means to accomplish. Don\u2019t undermine your capacity. If you can do more than another person can, do it. If you can achieve more than you are presently achieving, go on and achieve more.<\/p>\n
Again measuring your performance by that of another person undermines your potential. Potential is your latent capacity; it is possibility that is kept in cold storage. It is a treasure that is not yet discovered. Humans have boundless potential to excel and do more. So instead of using other people\u2019s performance as your yardstick, it will serve you better to pursue your potential.<\/p>\n
Potential is higher than any industry or world class standard. In many cases, what we acknowledge as industry standards or global benchmarks are the output of people. When others surpass those standards, they set new thresholds. Don\u2019t reduce your potential to someone\u2019s output. You should be motivated by the desire to be the best you can ever be.<\/p>\n
If you pursue your potential and focus on growing your capacity, you will not only surpass the standard, you will become the standard. The world does not celebrate mediocrity. The world celebrates novelty. Novelty is when you live out your authentic self. Your authentic self is unique and that would make you a model the world would look up to. Fulfilling your potential would make you better than the competition and give you recognition and honor.<\/p>\n
By all means we must be abreast of social trends but in the midst of the trends, we must rise higher and make waves that would set the pace for society.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
By: Terry Mante<\/p>\n
Terry Mante\u00a0is an author, motivational speaker and corporate trainer.<\/p>\n
Send your mails to him via info@terrymante.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In my\u00a0high school days at St. Peter\u2019s in the Eastern Region of Ghana, one of the things we cherished as students was the headmaster\u2019s \u2018golden\u2019 handshake. This was a public acknowledgement of those who excelled in the preceding academic term. At the beginning of every term, the headmaster would conduct a grand assembly of all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1565,374],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n