Average is a choice! Be deliberate.

Average is an option you choose through inaction.

What are you doing now? Reading this? Did you intentionally seek out something to read or did you stumble upon this article?

In there somewhere is the difference between the average and the strange. The average human allows life to happen to them, they go through life kind of the way water moves through the landscape, following the route of least resistance. It would be strange if water started flowing up a hill because it was a shorter route to the sea…but for humans that harder/stranger path is always an option.

I would describe myself as a slightly strange individual, I have the ability to fit in but when you get to know me I spend most of my time doing things that are not average and not normal. (He says sitting in a welsh cottage having not spoken to another human properly for 3 days.)

This is a deliberate choice, partly because the things I enjoy (fitness, thinking and the extremes in life) take me to places, times of the day and situations that aren’t average. But the main reasons I would say I’m not average is because I actively try to do as a I ought to do rather than as I want to do. I’m deliberate in most things I do, to the point that I deliberately plan times when I have no plan and can go with the flow of life.

When you are deliberate about certain actions and set your intent out clearly you can then deliberately take actions to pursue those actions and intents.

So here it is if you aren’t choosing certain actions but rather letting life happen to yourself, I would define this as average, the most common circumstance people find themselves in.

So average is a choice we make, a choice that is made when we don’t apply our brains and set our minds to a task.

You see in order to achieve one’s goals you nearly always have to step out of the average bubble, want to get a 1st at university? Then you are going to have to stay in while your mates are out drinking. Want to represent your country in the Olympics? Then guess what, you are going to have to choose to take certain actions.

This isn’t just applicable to high achievements, it's just as true if you want to lose that ‘stubborn belly fat’ or get the promotion at work. It boils down to doing something that is above and outside of your average.

So what is your average?

What do you do daily that forms and gives you the levels of mind, body and soul health you have?

A key area and reason to not be average is that the highs and lows of life are where life happens, you can’t experience joy without understanding pain. So, if you focus on applying the theme of this article in one area of your life let it be how you pursue joy.

We are what we do consistently…therefore our habits are our greatest weapon to help us achieve our goals.

(I’m going to do a whole article on positive habits and the blocks of culture at some point soon)

Average is an Option. If you are happy being average then that’s ok, its your life and you may be perfectly content in all ways. If you aren’t content in all ways and want to achieve something, anything. Then I implore you to think beyond your average, chose to be strange/weird/uncool because that’s where your progress start’s.

But how Dave?

Ask yourself at regular points throughout your day, how are my actions promoting my progress and success?

A key time to ask yourself that question is in the morning and evening, you’ve got back from work, you’ve taken your shoes off and you just want to sit and chill and that’s fine it’s perfectly average and ok. But if you’ve got shit you want to achieve identifying and planning your time is vital. The few hours between sleep and work at either side of the day are your time to be a fucking machine, get shit done be deliberate fuck average.

As an example of being deliberate, I live in London but I like running up hills in the countryside, so to try and replicate this I run around the streets of London in a weighted vest, getting funny looks and comments most of the time. I then get to the gym and just step over a box for an hour, once again getting funny looks.

I do this because I’m being deliberate, I’m trying to make sure my body is ready so I can just get in my van and head for the hills when I want to. I’m deliberately choosing to step out of my comfort zone and as a result I sometimes look a little bit like a zealot.

Another example is my approach to re-training when I left the military, I decided tech was the space I want to work in and that Cloud technologies was new and seemed to be future proof. I then went all in on studying cloud, fully geeking out whenever I could and taking multiple courses. To the point that when I left the military and joined a large consultancy I was almost immediately looked upon as the cloud guy. You are what you do repeatedly!

So what choice are you going to make, no choice and slide into average levels of life, or the deliberate choice and be a little bit weird, turn some heads and break out of your mould.

In summary, be deliberate. Hopefully this land in the spirit it is intended, to help us all to understand our time and our actions are precious and should be deliberately executed.

God Bless,

Dave

P.s.

If you like this perhaps have a read of one of my other articles on a similar subject.

Click Here