Prior to jumping into any strategies or tactics that we could implement into our daily lives in order to improve our personal performance, we have to understand the challenge that humans face on the road to high-performance.

When we were children, we dreamt of being astronauts, famous musicians, and world-class scientists. Our dreams excited us, made us happy, and we told everybody our dreams. Our imagination ran rampant and it is what fueled our existence as children.

However, as we grew older, our being started to change. Our bodies started to transform, we started to mature, and our relationship with the outside world developed. However, the greatest change we encountered is when society told us that we must stop being imaginative and let our “old” dreams go and replace them with new realistic ideas.

The challenge I’m alluding to is that as children we were told to dream for the stars and reach for the moon, but as we grow older, the mass mediocratization of society tells us to ditch our dreams, limit our beliefs, and conform to what society deems to be “realistic.” Our friends, teachers, and even parents tell us to align ourselves with the mentality of the masses. Am I blaming them? Absolutely not, because they too are victims of the dream-killing society we live in.

As we continue to grow older, society continues to perpetuate these ideas of realism to us. And as a result, most people end up living lives that reflect what society told them to live instead of living lives that they were created to live. This leads to a society in which the majority of the population simply exists, while very few actually live.

Existing vs. Living

So then, what does it mean to exist and what does it mean to live? Today in a workshop, I asked a question, “Where is the richest and most wealthy place on the planet?” People answered, “Milan, Paris, LA.” Yes, these places are extremely rich areas that generate large amounts of revenue. However, the wealthiest of all places on planet earth is the graveyard.

The graveyard is where people physically go when they die, but along with their physical bodies, many people’s brightest thoughts, biggest dreams, and greatest ambitions are buried along with them. They were hesitant to follow the inner voice which told them to do something bigger. They listened to their friends when they were told that their ideas were crazy. They listened to their professor who told them to just attain a degree and be like the masses. These dreamers existed, but they spent so much time listening to others that they never took the time to listen to themselves.

In my opinion, living is to listen to and learn about yourself instead of listening to the masses. Living is identifying one’s core values, passions, and principles and finding ways to cultivate them to leave a lasting impact on the world. Ultimately, living requires turning our dreams into realities instead of allowing them to subside as we often do when we listen to the outside world as we grow up.

I read a quote that said, “Most people die at 30, but are buried at 80.” Living is hard. It requires going against the grain. It requires accepting great risk with failure being imminent. It requires extreme confidence. It may even require losing those people you love most. The pursuit to live will require sacrifices that the masses are not willing to make but if they made them, they would be world-class.

Making the shift

The one thing I hope you’ve realized so far is that we are malleable creatures. On one hand, society influences many of us into thinking that mediocrity is our only option. Even if we’ve fallen into this trap, however, we have the power to break out of and free ourselves from our limiting beliefs. In my eyes, the steps below are good starting points to break those limiting beliefs and start living today:

• Be cognizant that we live in a society that perpetuates mass mediocrity. Don’t ignore this fact. Be aware of it but do not succumb to it.
• Begin to study who you are & what you value. Look at life from an “inside-out” approach rather the the “Outside-in” approach that society sells us.
• Choose to do things that bring fulfillment rather than things that bring praise from others.
• Be relentless in your pursuit to serve others through living out your passions.
• Accept the fact that some people will not understand you nor what you are doing. Your desire to live out who you are must outweigh your desire to be understood.

Our existence is inevitable, but living is a choice. We start off as bubbly eyed children dreaming large, but all so often end up as adults who have fallen victim to the mediocrity of the masses. So many of us have tangible success but are missing internal peace and fulfillment.

Living isn’t easy, it requires going against common thought, but those who are willing to do this are the ones we remember forever.