21 Lessons from Jo Average

The world is filled with inspirational stories about remarkable people. These contain many great lessons, which we can all learn something from.

Learning from Jo Average

What is less often examined, is the incredible value of learning from the stories of those, who never achieved anything beyond average.

By understanding their most common attitudes and motivations, we can avoid the same kind of thinking that led to their results.

Here are some common examples of how people apply ‘average’ thinking.

1. They have specific problems, they seek general advice.
2. They promise, they don’t fulfil.
3. They curate, they don’t create.
4. They complain, they don’t resolve.
5. They are quick to decry, slow to forgive.
6. They follow, they don’t lead.
7. They take too much, they give too little.
8. They automate, they don’t relate.
9. They know the cost, they don’t understand the value.
10. They watch too much TV, they read too few books.
11. They dabble, they don’t specialise.
12. They demand attention, they don’t command attention.
13. They look for the short cuts, they hide from the work.
14. They react, they don’t initiate.
15. They do average work, they want above average results.
16. They are general, they don’t get specific.
17. They are big on criticising, they are small on creating.
18. They repeat mistakes, they seldom learn from mistakes.
19. They crave security, they shun calculated risk.
20. They create excuses, they ignore reasons.
21. They dream and wish, they don’t plan and act.

Average can be comfortable

Mr or Ms Jo Average may be happy with their life. They never have to live outside their comfort zone. They never have to risk failure, because they never try anything exceptional. They are happy with ‘average’ and statistically, we know their friends will be the same.

However, those of us who want something more, need to do something more.