Your Desire For Greatness Is Blocking Your Chance To Be Exceptional
Life begins with a hard truth
I want to tell you a story about a day my life changed. I don’t just mean a little, I mean a lot.
The change was instant and took me by surprise. It came at the right time and only when I was ready to hear it.
It was the day I realised that I was mediocre.
It hit me like a truck. I knew nothing would ever be the same again. The scales had fallen from my eyes and I, Thomas was utterly unspecial. I lacked any talent. I might never do anything great or exceptional in my life.
It was the truth. The protective stories I had made up about myself — throughout my whole life — dissolved. Instead of horror, I felt relief.
Pure relief.
No longer did I need to torment myself with cognitive dissonance and justifications. I could take full unfiltered ownership and see myself as I was for the first time in a long time.
It took me until my late thirties until I was ready to hear this. My ego was too fragile and my tolerance for hard truths low.
Dostoevsky said it true when he told us “above all, do not lie to yourself”
I believe for the average person like me — a person of no discernable talent — to become exceptional I must first accept my mediocrity.
In this case, the truth can set us free.
