When Average Works

The problem with average is it actually works … sometimes. Average effort, average results, average willpower, average discipline, average preparation, average dedication. Mediocrity can get the job done, at least for a while.

You can live paycheck to paycheck, staying a step ahead of your debt payments and bad decisions just as long as you have a steady income and no unexpected expenses creep up. A marriage can limp along with minimal connection and commitment, just as long as the other aspects of the couple’s life remains smooth. Average performance at work might be enough to get by if there are no layoffs and the company remains profitable.

Yes, average may work, but only in average conditions. But sooner or later, the storms hit. Maybe it is the banks melting down in 2008. Maybe your spouse gets cancer. Maybe one of your kids gets addicted to pain pills. Maybe you have a severe injury. Or maybe the world gets shut down because of a novel virus and life as we knew it ceases to exist and you lose your job or your business. Or maybe it is just a competitor that moves into your territory and puts pressure on your company.

Regardless of the details, when the storm hits, it exposes average. We then see who is building on solid ground and who is building on sand. If we learned anything from 2020, we can see that average absolutely does NOT work in extreme conditions. Average crumbles and is swept away by the waves of change and hardship.

Average can give you a false sense of security in the moment. Average tells you to keep your head down, stay under the radar and everything will work out. This all seems well and good while the sun is shining, but the storms of life do come sooner or later. And since we cannot always avoid them, we must be poised to weather them. And average won’t cut it.

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