Being mediocre in life is so easy, how hard do you work?

My business has been going for a year and I have failed to grow as fast as I would have liked due to the fact that I'm not picking and choosing my clients properly. I've yet to niche down as I'm not being picky but I know this is what I need to do to really grow. What's stopping me? My heavy work schedule which has just recently doubled and problem clients. I hope to clear this issue up in June after reporting week.

Am I working as hard as I could be?

My working philosophy is this, "Late to bed, early to rise, work like crazy, and advertise!"

Be careful... I've been down this road...

Working harder doesn't necessarily mean working better. You can work your arse off, but if it's on the wrong things it doesn't matter.

I'll take ten minutes of work on the right things over ten hours of work on the wrong things.

Yes, we can all be doing more. Just make sure that you're spending your time strategically and not working for the sake of being "busy"...

You have to love what you are doing to go the distance. I work harder than anyone I know. The difference is I love the work itself whereas many people I know hate their jobs. The difference is immense.

Of course, it also helps me that many people say I look like a combination of a young Jack Nicklaus and Robert Redford in "The Sting."

First making a good living working only a few hours a week is
definitely NOT mediocre.

If you're making the money you need and you have the lifestyle
you want then I don't see any reason for you to get worked up
about doing more.


On the other hand getting smarter so you can deliver more to your
clients with as much or less effort is a whole different story.

I think rather than focusing on working more it's better to focus on
innovating and doing things differently to maximize your results.

That will be more fun and involve you more and get you more
excited about doing more.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

People lose sight of the big picture I think.

What does mediocre mean? It means average. What does "middle class" mean? It also means average.

It is comfortable being in the middle class, and many people work hard to get here. The thing is, middle class=average. Really, you can do a mediocre amount of work and get here. My way to stay motivated is to remind myself that being mediocre is not good enough.

I have a problem with being middle class. You see, many of the people in my family did not prepare themselves well enough for retirement, and they will live longer than their money. Who are they going to come to? Me. What am I going to do? Help them.

How about me? Am I going to live longer than my money? Will being in the middle class allow my family to be comfortable until the end?

Staying in the middle class will not allow me to take care of my family the way I want to and maintain my lifestyle.

Another problem - I like to help people. I want to be the very best I can be. I want to help others do the same. In order for that to happen, I must grow my organization. I must move beyond middle class to reach my potential.

And that is another point. My potential. Few people are living up to our potential. I consider it immoral to waste my potential. I have a moral and ethical obligation to fulfill to the peak of what I can do.

I want my son to reach his full potential. The only way I can help him do that is to reach mine. I have an OBLIGATION to him. I MUST rise above the templates that are in my mind which tell me it is OK to be mediocre. You see, it's all a fantasy anyway. Your templates are telling you that it's OK to slow down. It has nothing to do with being comfortable. It has everything to do with what you mind believes your station in life should be.

Jim Rohn said "Don't make a million dollars because of what it will buy you - Make a million dollars because of what it will make OF you."

I simply have too far to go to stay middle class.

The monotonous and routine work are the reasons for job dissatisfaction. I guess your business stability makes it boring because you were not too pressured to meet deadlines or to generate leads to meet your quota. Whenever I feel like I'm hating my job already, I just make pauses and remember how I strive to have this and then I get back to work. Find a perfect reason that will motivate you well.

The trouble is, "you can always work harder." I work as hard as it takes to maintain my lifestyle. If I want, I can work longer hours, come up with additional campaigns, but that is not what I am doing right now.

We all have such widely differing dreams, desires, abilities: the list goes on and on. What works well for one doesn't even come close for another.

For me it is part restlessness and part ideology.