The Most Dangerous Addiction Nobody Talks About: Mediocrity

The word addiction has a terrible meaning in most people's minds. A mindless incapacity to do what you want and enslaved by something out of your control. Welcome to the show. Tired of the hype about living the dream.It's time for truth. This is the place for tools, power and real talk. So you can create the life you dream and deserve your ultimate life. Subscribe, share, create.You have infinite power. Welcome to your ultimate life. Boy, that intro would slap you upside the head. Addiction used to mean, right? This was the picture.We had someone sitting on the side of the road or in some bad area in the city, right? And they just beyond their control, unable to manage their life. You know what that looks like and has felt like in your mind for somebody else?Well, let's talk about some other ideas of addiction, because we've created addiction about almost anything.But there's one terrifying addiction that I think is, I won't say worse, but certainly affects a zillion times more people than some kind of a substance addiction or gambling or sex addiction or shopping addiction. I think it does more damage and it's worse. You know what it is? Addiction to mediocrity. Addiction to mediocrity.Another way to say this is comfort in smallness.Now, addiction normally defined as some kind of an illness, whether it's alcohol addiction, we used to call alcoholism, or opioid addiction or shopping addiction or pornography addiction, sex addiction, or, you know, all kinds of other things.And it usually, and I'm going to give a loose definition, but it's a compulsion to take refuge in a particular activity, substance or behavior instead of facing reality as it is and then managing it from a powerful place.You know, when you look at 12 step, and I'm not saying that's the only recovery program, but it's certainly one, one of the ones that I'm deeply familiar with because both for alcohol and substances, I've attended countless 12 step meetings. And one of the phrases in 12 step is we need to learn.And I'm paraphrasing because it's slightly different in different versions, but we need to learn to deal with life on its own terms. And what that means is really clear.We, if we want to be successful or have control of our lives, we got to be able to manage life like it is and not through the filter or lens of some substance or behavior that takes us away from just confronting or managing or using or developing or engaging is actually the word I like engaging with life like it really is. So what is it about addiction to Mediocrity. And I made some bold claims. I said, it's more terrifying and more damaging than any other addiction.And I stand by that because it is the root, or I think the root of this epidemic of lack of performance and growth and so forth. You know, this blaming, this rage that we have in politics clearly manifest in the US Right now.You know, as, you know, Joy and I live in Canada, but we're both dual citizens.And so we watch with interest as this negative emotion between the US And Canada goes about attacking and defending and, you know, the premier of this and president of that or prime Minister, you know, all that stuff. And addiction to mediocrity.Now, addiction, again, it's taking refuge in some substance or behavior or idea or attitude that allows us to face life in a way that's not real, not true, but through some lens. Now, it's easy to understand. With alcohol, for example, oh, I got to have a drink to take the edge off. Take the edge off of what? A.Take the edge off of life as it is, or my situation as it is, or my relationship with my significant other, or my business partner as it is, or the work or things that are in front of me as they are. And so, man, I got to take the edge off. Take the edge off the day, take the edge off the meeting, take the edge off the whatever, right?Because the feeling that we have and having lived there for years, many, many years, we got to do something. Because confronting things as it is is too hard, or working with things as. As they really are too hard is too hard.And that our unwillingness to work with life, and I don't like to say confront or face life because that. That implies that everything has to be a conflict. And you know what? When you take refuge in any kind of addiction, that's what it feels like.It's a fricking conflict.Conflict with somebody else, with your partner, with life, with your money, with your bank account, with your job, with your kids, with your whatever. We got to take the edge off. And the edge is just reality like it is.Byron, Katie, one of my favorite authors, says the only suffering we have is when we're arguing with reality. And that, you know, the idea of facing life on its own terms can be. Can be viewed hard, or it can be viewed as simply truth.And if we are unable or unwilling to face life on its own terms, then we turn to some other behavior. We might ignore things, or we might sit and binge watch Netflix.We might take a few drinks or some other substances or go Spend money or dig down in porn or do whatever it is so that we're not. We're not connected to or focused with or able to engage with things as they really are. So this is the third in the set of episodes about the swamp.The swamp is that place where we live below our possibility. Now, this whole podcast series, your ultimate life.I believe I know that you have the ability to live every day, every hour, in purpose, prosperity, and joy. And no, I don't mean there aren't struggles or things that go sideways or crap that happens you didn't want or failures or people that are unkind.I don't mean any of that. What I do mean is when those things happen, and they do and they will, you aren't. You are not derailed.You are not driven into oh or oh, you know, anger or self recrimination or giving up or, you know, that isn't the reaction. Okay. That's the ultimate life I live me, Kellen, but I'm giving this to you, too.To say I live in purpose, prosperity, and joy every hour of every day. Now, that might sound like a bold claim, and Kellen, you're full of crap, but it's something you can learn to do.And what I can tell you is living there is joyful, because that means no matter what happens, I'm having fun. I love my life. I run a program and nobody buys. Oh, no, not oh, no. It's just information.I know there's a way through, around, or over this, and I can look for that and get into it without getting excited, burned down, or negative. Okay, what do we need to do? What can I learn? What coolness can I create from this pile of garbage I didn't want?I'm not saying there's not frustrating emotions or circumstances or anything, but the question is always, what can I build from this situation? You can call it a disaster if you want, want.Or in the face of awesome success, how can I remain humble and add more good to the world because of this awesome success? Not, whoa, look at me. I'm so cool. So that is purpose. Prosperity is the natural outcome of living in joy, in purpose, having a purpose.Have you declared your life purpose? That's just a really simple question.My life purpose is to reach and bless 300 million people and build a large business, the Ultimate Life university with four schools, to give people the tools, the encouragement, the frameworks, the examples of creating meaning in the world, creating wealth, generational wealth, wealth that goes beyond your own family and an impact every one of us has the opportunity to change the world. Like really, can you imagine. Just slow down for a sec. You, right here where you are, can change the world, the trajectory and outcome.And we've gotten stuck in the idea that if I can't Harry Potter, it, you know, like, funny if you watch the Fantastic Beasts movies, right? Where. What's his name? The guy with the suitcase. I forgot. With all the magical beasts in the suitcase.So in New York, and when all this destruction and buildings are all blown down by the Obscurial and all this destruction, you know, they wander down the street and wave their wands and all the things, buildings pop back up and the ground flows back together and all this horrific damage that was done is all undone. We have the idea that if it doesn't happen like that, or some version either fixing things or creating massive wealth or impact, that it's not okay.It's too fricking slow. Well, nothing works like that. Nothing works like that.Once in a while some extraordinary thing happens, a convergence, and somebody, you know, buys a piece of real estate and it quadruples in value in two or three months or even a year, or bitcoin and it takes off. You know, I thought about buying Bitcoin in 2009. I heard about it. I was going to buy a bitcoin mining machine.And I didn't really understand what the blockchain was or anything else. And I didn't. And I've watched it go from 2000. I don't think maybe it was 9 or 10. 9 or 10. And I didn't do those things.Even though I looked at some and thought about it. And now it's gone from worth Nothing, a tenth of a cent or whatever to now, you know, 60,000. It was 120,000 a while ago.And I personally know people who got in early and have made millions, hundreds of them. Millions of dollars in that thing. Okay, but that still wasn't a fast thing. 2009 to now is 18 years.So there's opportunities like that, but we seem to think they're not for us. They're not yet somebody else somewhere they got in at the right moment. They either got lucky or some tip or insider trading or whatever, right?Growth is not like that. The Olympics just passed. Nobody got to those gold medal podiums in an afternoon or a week or a month or a year. Nobody. Nobody.A Nobel Prize in physics, you know, Einstein and others, and in Nobel Prize in Chemistry or medicine or whatever it is. It didn't take a day or a week or a month. Or year. It took years of learning, years of experimenting, years of discovery, years of failure.So all of those successes are real and they are celebrated and they are possible. And here's the cool thing, and hear this.The proliferation of tools, the Internet, so many years ago, AI in the last three or four years and now really blowing up in the last year or two. Those have the ability and are they're going to make more millionaires. If money is your most important measure of success.Somebody said the Internet's gonna or the AI is gonna make more millionaires in five years and the Internet did in 20. Well, that's a bold claim, but it's pro true. And it's not because it's magic. It's because it's powerful.And you can see right now as you look around more AI tools and more AI tools and advertisements on everything, Facebook and Tick Tock and Yo Mama that all these new tools that are going to turn everything you're doing into guess what. Instant success nonsense. Powerful tools. I use them every day, all the time. And it's going to take dedication, learning and work.And because go back to the Fantastic Beasts, I still can't think of that guy's name with, with the suitcase.Maybe I'll think of it before we're done here, but anyway, that we can somehow walk down the road and wave the wand and all the buildings line up for us, or all the patents line up for us, or all the sales and the sales copy line up for us even with the help of AI, which is magic. Closest. Closest thing to magic we've had in a long time because it researches so well and writes so well.And yes, it hallucinates and yes, it can be very helpful. And because we have this idea that it has to happen faster, it doesn't count. We get frustrated, we quit early and we give up.Then what happens is we get caught up and then addicted to the idea of mediocrity. Now remember, back to addiction, a behavior that we engage in to dull the pain, the struggle.The reality of real life and how that works is this is as good as it gets for me. I'll just go frickin binge watch Netflix with a glass of wine. That is addiction to mediocrity.You, right here, right now, when you were young, you had visions. Nobody told you you couldn't be president, an astronaut and a scientist all at the same time. And a football player or a ballet dancer or whatever.And you imagined why you. You would do all of that. Then we grew up and we realized get realistic, kid. You're fooling yourself. What a disease. Both and is the truth of life.You can have both. You can have this and that, not either or. So that is foundational truth. What we create. That's the limitation.Now, in the last episode, we talked about learned helplessness. A series of things where we learn to be helpless. This is different. And like last one, we're going to dive into this deeply.And the reason is because I want you to try, if you're willing. My goal in doing these is to give you the tools, the ideas, the attitudes, the help so you can create ultimate life purpose, prosperity and joy.Addiction to mediocrity is different, right, than learned helplessness? Addiction, remember, is a numbing removal of energy and impetus. So I become addicted to. It's good enough. That's all I get. It's not a big deal.Not for me. Somebody somewhere, but not me. Okay? So mediocrity is not an accident.Mediocrity is a learned behavior, just like victim or just like learned helplessness. Nobody wakes up at 8 on one day and says, gee, man, I hope I have an average, muted, cautious life.Nobody dreams of quiet resignation, of minimal or reduced impact, of managed disappointment. Nobody. Nobody wakes up and dreams of that. Nobody has vision boards to mediocrity, yet most of us end up there. Why? Well, it's never chosen directly.It's something we default to slowly. Okay, so let's get clear. Mediocrity is not a lack of talent. You have gifts and talents. I know you, even if I haven't talked to you.And I love you and I'd love to talk to you. I'm inviting you right now to get a hold of me. Go to kellenfluekegermedia.com and use the contact form.I want to know where you're at, what you're doing, what your dreams and visions are. I want to know what you're trying to accomplish. I want to know what the world would look like after you fixed it.Mediocrity does not mean a lack of talent. It means instead, underutilization. I hear people say sometimes, well, the world couldn't handle the real me. Bullshit.That's an excuse for not laying it out there. I got a song, right, called Heart in the Sky. Heart in the sky. And you ought to go listen to it on Spotify or Apple or Amazon. Heart in the sky.And it says, lay it on out there. Reach for the sky. No holding back. So you never ask why. Open your eyes.And this time around, stand with your heart in the sky and your feet on the ground. Mediocrity means unused potential. How many people have you heard, wow, he had such potential, or she could have done so much.That's usually said after they're dead, something happened. They die young, you know, oh, all those unrealized opportunities, negotiated down dreams.So we enter into this haze of mediocrity, like an addict with alcohol or drugs or other numbing behaviors, where we. We are no longer listening to that yearning, you know, too tired, tomorrow. I don't know how.You know what one of the cool things about the Internet and AI is? I don't know how is the lamest excuse in the universe. Finding out how to do something is easier now than it's ever been in the world.It used to be before libraries, you had to go find somebody that was really good at it, that was willing to tell you. Then we had libraries and so you could do research and find out.Then we had the Internet, which brought all of that in your home right in front of your face.Now we have the AI, which can search it and summarize it and you can talk to it about what you already know and help you in ways that just, you know, Google and all the rest of the search engines never could. The greatest tragedy isn't failing. It's this empty and unused capacity now, addiction to mediocrity. I hope you can be honest.I'm saying all this because I love you. I believe in you. I know you can not only have your ultimate life, but you can change the world.Now, I ask people all the time, what does the world look like after you've fixed it? Some people say, well, there's no more hunger, there's no more poverty. I know. I know a guy right now, I think I mentioned this in another episode.He's changing how capital markets work so that we get money to the real powerful society, changing projects and ideas. Okay, so mediocrity feels safe. This is one reason we're addicted to it, because it feels safe, right? It feels safe.Same thing as you drink too much and you feel powerful. It breaks down your inhibitions, you're able to go talk. It's before you get stupid drunk or stoned or whatever. But it make it safe.It's a place we know. It's inside the circle of comfort. So mediocrity feels safe. So here's some reasons it avoids judgment. If you're not trying hard, you can't fail hard.Those that dare greatly, fail greatly.But nobody that landed on top of the Olympic Podium or in the science world or the performing world or anything else got there without failing on their face, flat blop a bunch of times. And you can say to me right now, kellen, I don't want to do that.I'm unwilling to take the chances, put forth the effort that it would take to fail greatly and get back up. I'm unwilling to do that. I believe you, if that's what you say.And I'm sorry, I'm sad, because I want to see you fully in Blossom, realized and recognized. And it's not about what I want, who gives a crap? But it's about the benefit you could bring to the world.Can you imagine, just for a minute, if that's. Just pick 10 people that you know, think of a few names.10 people that you know and that you know right now are not using their genius, their talents, their skills to max. They're just floating now.I want you to imagine what the world would look like, even their local world, their neighborhood, their family, their community, their city, their school, their workplace, if they just showed up all in all the time, they just chose just, you know, get rid of this mediocrity disease, addiction. What would it do for them? And what would it do for people around them? What would.What would the answer to that question be for you if you showed up all in all the time just because you can, not because I ask you, or because somebody makes you, because they can't, what do you think would change? I know when I stopped doing that, stopped just showing up half assed. But all in, all the time, every time, everything.And nobody's perfect, but every time, everything's changed. First of all, I feel good all the time. I have fun all the time. And the difference I make is way bigger. And so what about me?It will be the same for you instantaneously. No. Fast enough to scare the daylights out of you. Yes. So I want you to think about that.Another reason it feels comfortable is if you don't step out and show up like that, well, then you can't be criticized.And sometimes the thing we want to avoid the most is someone going dissing you, you know, calling you out on social or calling you names or doing whatever. There were a period of years in the last few years where that was horrifying. People getting canceled or, you know, publicly shamed.Gratefully, with all my heart, that is changing. I'm so grateful. It's being tolerated less. Still happening a ton. But it's being tolerated less. And I love that.Here is Another reason it avoids judgment was the first one. It feels. It avoids responsibility is the second thing. Nobody can judge you and dis you, and it avoids responsibility. Well, it's not mine.I didn't commit fully, so I don't have to deliver fully. It's the same thing with procrastination, right? I used to put stuff off because. And this was unconscious. I realized it later.I put stuff off till the last minute because I told myself, well, I work well under pressure. Well, that may have been true. And I produced acceptable stuff and sometimes even good stuff, but there was always a door and out.This said, well, if it sucks or even sort of sucks or somebody disses it, you know, I said, well, I could have done better if I'd had more time. Oh, talk about a waste of potential. I'm. I wait, I do it less. I give it all my got in the last little bit. And the. The escape hatch, the exit valve is.Well, you know, if I had more time, I'd, you know, I just did it the last day. So, you know, oh, what a disease. I don't do that anymore because I hate how that feels. Not that whatever it was is better or not as good.It's the attitude of, I have an escape hatch to blame right now. Here's another one, and this is really painful for me. If you never decide I go all in clearly, then you really never really test your ceiling.Like, what could I do? And a lot of reasons. We might be afraid of that. It's not as high as we thought. We're not as good as we thought right this minute.We're afraid to admit it and confront our limitations. So mediocrity protects us from that fierce ownership. I'm protected from that. Here's another one. Addiction to mediocrity avoids visibility.We can stay in with the crowd, staying with the mid, you know, good enough, floating around the center. Because visibility, it exposes flaws, right?Somebody puts their art out there, puts their writing out there, puts books they've written out there, puts their music out there. Somebody's gonna diss you. If you haven't had haters, you haven't said anything, honestly. And so we're free.I mean, I'm talking about living the ultimate life purpose, prosperity and joy. And this discussion of the swamp of learned helplessness, addiction to mediocrity and victim mindset, which will be next episode.This discussion of that is for those who want to get out of the swamp.It's for those who are tired of living small, of staying in the middle of being addicted to mediocrity, of avoiding visibility, of being scared, scared of haters. Okay. Visibility can trigger insecurity. So it exposes flaws, invites comparison. You're not as good as so and so's better, da da da.And it triggers this insecurity. All of those things come right out of my old playbook, smallness. Being small feels so stabilizing. Here's a truth.It's easier to criticize than create. It's. It is easier to criticize than create.So you and I, we get to decide if we're going to sit on the side and be a critic or if we're going to step out and create. No critic ever produced world changing results. Art, literature, music, performance, technology. No critic created world changing results, period.So we can protect ourselves. And I always use the phrase dying with your music. Inside you have a symphony that is unimaginably, unimaginably beautiful, powerful.Maybe it's a piece of art, maybe it's literature, maybe it is music. Maybe it's just expression. Maybe it's an explosion of kindness and love. Maybe it's an explosion of healing. Maybe it's a new healing modality.I have a client right now who's working with another person who's not a client, but who I know. They're changing the face of medicine. They're bringing love into medicine.Caring instead of clinical distance, that's going to change the world, but it's also going to expose them and invite comparison and all the things that we just talked about. So here, here's the thing. Critics. Criticism requires no courage. It's easy to sit on the sidelines of dis.It's easy to throw stones, to point out the flaws. Okay? Creation requires vulnerability and courage. Criticism doesn't. Cynicism feels intelligent. I am an intelligent critic. Courage feels risky.Those things are true. And this is our invitation to decide where we stand. Because when we sit inside those safety zones, right?I don't want visibility, I don't want exposure, I don't want that. We are living with an addiction to mediocrity. We are living with that blunting atmosphere where we're not exposed, we're not out there.And we're also not creating powerfully. So I invite you to consider that because you're more important than that. You're more valuable than that.One of the most fabulous ways that I love serving people is to help you go through your life experiences and figure out where your superpower is, because you have one. Most folks have not done the Work the examination, ask the questions to really figure out where their superpower is. Oh, they'll say things.Well, you know, I like to help people step into their power and get out of their own way and find their greatness. A. What is your real superpower that nobody can touch? Well, it's scary to find that, because guess what?It requires that you claim it, that you use it, and then you're exposed and vulnerable. But that also gives you a position to make a difference that really matters, to change the world.First yourself, then people around you, clients, collaborators, partners. And how big the change you create in the world is 100% dependent on how hard you go in. It's your call and mine, but you make no mistake.You have the ability to change the world. All right, so let's talk about. Let's.Let's widen our lens here a bit, because we have a social structure right now that reinforces smallness, it reinforces shrinking, and it reinforces mediocrity and staying in the lines. Here's why. We have a shared culture of cynicism. And all you have to do is listen to what's going on in our world right now to hear cynicism. Cynicism.Oh, this won't work. That won't work. Their stupid. They're wrong, okay? We believe that it's more important to be bonded in our little group. Right.Than to create the kind of change that's really necessary, okay? We choose to mock in our culture those who are pushing the boundaries and trying to succeed, okay?Entire sort of communities form around we must be nice. How about we must be kind? There's a. There's a grand canyon of difference between nice and kind. Nice means don't rock the boat, you know, da, da, da.Kind means I won't tolerate from you smallness. I love you enough to support you in being all that you can. There's a wild difference. And that's one of the things I love about being a coach, okay?Another way. Another way that we live addicted to mediocrity is when we look at people with success, we say, they must have cheated. They must have insider info.They were fraudulent. They had connections. I'm not denying that those things exist.But when we go there and assume that because they won, they cheated, we are addicted to mediocrity. We assume and normalize mediocrity as the normal state, because anybody that rises above that, well, they're a cheater.Anybody that expresses lofty goals, they're unrealistic. And if they achieve all or Part of that vision. Well, they got lucky. How cynical. How sad. Because here's what that does.You and me, we're divine beings. We all came from the same creator. We're here on purpose. There's no accident to this creation.It's like Einstein said, well, you can treat everything like it's a miracle. Well, I've seen too many miracles to not do that. Okay? We all came from the same place.We all have gifts and talents, and we all have a mission and purpose. And when we sit quietly, we know that. And we're scared to go do it. We're scared of putting it out there and getting criticized.And so we live in this numbing, this addiction to the alcohol of mediocrity, to the drug of sameness. We live in the sea of sameness, not willing to rise above, put in the extra effort to love ourselves enough to get good at what we do. Hear that?What if you loved yourself enough to get so good at what you do, they couldn't ignore you? There's a book be so good, they can't ignore you. Good book, but it's true. And you have that ability. You don't have to use it. Okay?Another thing we do that creates this culture of mediocrity is we mock ambition. Ambition is framed sometimes as arrogance. Excellence is framed as elitism, and discipline is framed as obsession. Now, any of those things are true.Some people are arrogant as hell. As you look at the political landscape unfolding in the United States right now, arrogance is like your ante to get into that thing.And there are some people that are genuine, and there are many who are arrogant. And if you dig beneath the surface, there's no substance. I had a. Saw an interview the other day where someone was talking about someone else.And I'm not going to use names because I'm not doing that. But they said, well, they sure know how to dish it out.But if there's any pushback on them, they get completely flustered, blown out, because they can't, you know, participate in what they dish out. That's all. Such phoniness. Where is the love?Where is the courage for you and me to create powerful change in the world just out of love and not out of fear and to. To, like, get over this addiction to mediocrity, to stay below the radar. All right, so here's another thing.Mediocrity becomes acceptable because we've confused humility with hiding. Now, I want you to think about this. Humility is not smallness. Gandhi was humble, self effacing.And changed the entire continent, subcontinent of India and is held up as a model for that. If you are religious, you know, Jesus, he didn't go around tooting his own horn, but he healed and blessed people all over the place.You and I can do that. And there is power there. Okay? And so we, if we confuse humility with hiding, then we make, we. We live right into this mediocrity addiction.Hiding is, I don't take chances and I don't put it out there. Humility is I go do everything I can, all in full force, without fear. And when I fall and fail, I and go at it again, etc. Etc.And I don't make it about me. I don't blow my horn, I don't say yay me. That's the difference between humility and hiding. Humility is a beautiful characteristic.There's a phrase a lot can get accomplished if nobody cares who gets the credit. That's truer than true. And your light, your skill, your blessing, your superpower can serve so many.If we don't care who gets the credit, or I don't care who gets credit for what I do, and if I'm willing to ignore the naysayers, the critics, and all those people that say what we talked about above, smallness gets decided. Is fear disguised as modesty. So being modest is, Is, you know, considered a good thing.And we disguise it by, well, you know, I, I make myself small and I pretend that it's modesty. No, it's not your call. And my call is to blow out of the bonds of mediocrity and be all that you can do, all the good that we together can.The ultimate life purpose, prosperity and joy means you choose a purpose, you lean into it with all your soul, with all your res. Horses, with all your heart. Just because you can not.Because we're looking around seeing who's noticing and who's going to give us accolades and a prize and more cash. And so we live in this bubble, this addiction to mediocrity. All right, so here's some examples.And you know this right now, how many people are pretending on social media? How often is scandal highlighted more than excellence?Now, we certainly see examples of excellence highlighted and celebrated, but scandal is infinitely more interesting, enticing and powerful. Look at so and so, and you see it and I see it. We don't have to participate in that.I ask myself all the time, is my behavior, is my language, the things I watch, the things I support, are they about growth and helping? Or are they about wiifm. What's in it for me?Staying small then feels safe and socially approved because we don't want anybody sticking above here too much, you know, nonsense. I invite you to go all in with your heart, burn this addiction to mediocrity. Okay. All right.So let's look at the emotional payoff here for mediocrity for a sec. When I live in mediocrity, I don't have big risks. I don't have any public embarrassment or. The chances are pretty small.I don't have any dramatic losses, so there's no scandal there, and I don't have any intense expectations. Well, I. I have lived like that. And maybe you have, or maybe you are. And is it fun? Is it joyful?Do you go to bed every night feeling like I gave it all I got? Do you get up every morning excited about what's right there in front of you to do well?When you're living with purpose, prosperity and joy, that's exactly how you get up. So that's what mediocrity gives you. No big risks, no big embarrassment, no dramatic losses, no intense expectations.But it also gives me, you, us, no expansion, no deep satisfaction or pride. Pride. It. It doesn't give us any earned confidence, and it certainly doesn't give us mastery.You know, falling in love with the growth process is a real thing. I gave it all I had and grew as much as I could. Okay?Now, I know someone who works out a lot, and they don't post their victories and stuff on social, but. But when they give a good workout, give it all they had, even in quiet private, and go home, there's a sense of pride and accomplishment.I know someone right now who's building a company worth several hundred million dollars, who's got every reason to be proud. And their conversation about it is muted. Good blessing and lifting others who are involved and never yo, look at me. Well, that's humility.And they're making a massive difference and creating massive wealth that's available for you right here, right now. If you don't know how, then that's where I invite you to get a hold of me. Because I can show you how. That's the place that we live.Joy and I have made that commitment, and we didn't get their magic and we didn't have any insider trading and we didn't have any special stuff. It's a process of learning and execution. Learning and execution. If you want to talk about it, kellenflukermedia.com they use the contact form.Because there's a way to get to purpose, prosperity and joy. Or I wouldn't waste all the time that I use talking about it. I have gone from this totally broken place to this place of just joy and happiness.And you know what's funny? When you really make that switch, the thing that comes right behind it is a yearning to share it, a yearning to help others.Now some people, you know, I'm greedy. I got mine. You guys all go to hell. You guys figure it out yourself. I did beat it. There's no love there.People who earn their way to the top, almost, not all of them, but almost always, are willing to turn around, give a hand and help you with real life. Because there's an infinite amount of prosperity. It's not a limited pie. Infinity is the ceiling.We're taught to believe otherwise, and that's not true. Here is the truth. When you go big, there's periods of up and down. Think about stock markets, market volatility, bitcoin volatility.And here's what we trade. If I live in mediocrity, I trade that volatility for flatness. Well, if you want to, you're free to do it.But what I've learned the hard way is a life without risk is a life without expression. Just let that land. If you. If you live a life without risk or you're in that mediocrity, that's a life without fully expressing yourself.It's safe, it can be comfortable, and it's boring as hell. So you have in you the ability to change the world. You have the ability to have purpose, prosperity and joy.And you can choose whether or not to use it, to get into it, to live it, to love it, to embrace it and share it. Okay, here's the thing. Your nervous system expands or adapts. Sorry, adapts to comfort. You know, I don't need to. Comfort then becomes dependency.Dependency becomes identity. That is exactly the road to addiction. Alcohol, your nervous system adapts to comfort. The haze. Drugs, the same thing.Shopping, sex, whatever, it becomes the haze. Comfort then becomes dependency. I gotta have it. And dependency then becomes identity. That's the road to misery. The road to hell, as it were.It's the road to dying. With your music inside you, You. You stop stretching, you stop dreaming bigger and imagining things that could be. You stop testing.And then the sad part is we start defending, staying small. So here's what mediocrity produces. Having lived there, I know. And see if you recognize this low grade dissatisfaction sort of background noise.You're always a little pissed off and frustrated. Quiet resentment. Sometimes of yourself. Sometimes of those that you believe are keeping you stuck.Sometimes of those that have been successful and you're pissed off. Subtle. Or sometimes overt and angry. Envy. Internal comparison. How come they have it and I don't? Erosion of self restraint, self respect.Then you start not believing in yourself. Not believing what you're possible and capable of. So here's another thing. Mediocrity protects you. It does.It protects you from the possibility that you try fully and still fail. That's one that just stuck me so long. I'm going to go out and give it all I got. And what if it sucks? What if I fail? What if I bomb?That was a painful thought for me, so I hid. I don't do that anymore. Because finally the pain of the idea of dying with my music inside became overwhelming. So I don't do that.I stick out my neck, my thoughts, my feelings, my words, my love, my invitations. And whoever loves them, fine. And whoever hates my guts or disses me, I love you anyway. And that means purpose, prosperity and joy. You know what?It also protects you from the responsibility that comes with influence. It protects you from the weight of excellence.So if you don't want the responsibility that comes with influence or the weight of excellence, mediocrity is the way to go. Excellence demands discipline, integrity, follow through and resilience. Because we're going to fall.And deep inside, I would be willing to bet anything you want that you want to look at yourself and know you lived all in. You lived full out, whatever the words are, and you gave it everything you got. Mediocrity demands nothing. That's why it's so addictive.It doesn't demand anything. So here's the decision point. The decision point. There's no drama here, just clarity. And you have to decide. Where have you reduced your expectation?What dream have you negotiated down and said, I'll just settle for less? What standard have you lowered about your own performance and your own gifts? Where have you been calling humility a fear?Or I'm sorry, calling humility a virtue when it's really just fear with the clothes of humility. You were not designed for smallness. You weren't. You're capable and designed for greatness.You can make a difference and change the world if you want to. But it does take the courage to be out, to be criticized, to be visible and to be vulnerable.And my own experience is having made that change, it's worth it. Okay? It's simply a decision. It's not true. Some people were divine. Does destined for greatness. You are one of those. You are destined for greatness.If you want it. If you want it. Moving forward with this commitment to excellence instead of addiction to mediocrity is a key to purpose, prosperity and joy.It's a key to moving forward. Each of us. You and me together. And I'll meet you there. Living in your ultimate life. Right here, right now.Your opportunity for massive growth is right in front of you. Every episode gives you practical tips and practices that will will change everything.If you want to know more, go to Kellen Fluker media.com if you want more free tools, go here. Your ultimate life ca subscribe. Share. Stand with your heart in the sky and your feet on the ground.