"Mediocrity is excellence to the mediocre."
This loosely written quote is credited to Joseph Joubert, a French writer. To me, the person I would credit with this quote is John Aldrich Sr. The late/great Coach Aldrich is a Hall of Fame coach and was a teacher at N.U. High School in Cedar Falls, IA. He was actually one of my student teaching supervisors when I was just starting out. He's one of the very influential role models that I crossed paths with in my life. Love the guy– he impacted my life in a positive way. Truly a one of a kind, unique and special person.
Coach Aldrich often repeated those words; Mediocrity is excellence to the mediocre.
Think about it, how often do you hear people say things like good enough, whatever, or that’ll do? How often are we rushed to perform a task with the goal being just to get it done? The quality and efficiency of our work says a lot about us. The same is true for businesses no matter their size.
A former student gave me a recipe for excellence and I will share it with you now.
Excellence can be attained if, you
Care more than others think is wise,
Risk more than others think is safe,
Dream more than others think is practical, and
Expect more than others think is possible.
Excellence is a very high standard to set. It may even seem unattainable to some. The quote, "Mediocrity is excellence to the mediocre" can serve as an inspiration for us to set a standard beyond what would be a mediocre effort. Successful individuals and groups don’t settle for mediocrity.