I like this quote I noted in a post from Hugh McLeod from Gapingvoid in this post ‘How You Strive for Excellence‘: “[Mediocrity is] ‘People who Gave Up, When They Didn’t Have To“.
This statement is powerful and puts an interesting different view on mediocrity. Of course when it comes to giving up, the question is always when. Sometime it does not make sense to pursue something further, but too often people give up too early, not showing enough perseverance or grit.
When looking at mediocrity as giving up too early when people did not have to, reference is made to the fact that irrespective of the objective and the reality, and whether they could have been successful or no, those people gave up much too early, even when investment or suffering was much too low to justify it. And when I think about some examples I know, I find that this statement is right on target.
So, make sure you don’t give up when you don’t have to!
