A Coaching Power Tool created by Angella Brown Ferguson
(Executive/Leadership Coach, BAHAMAS)
The Webster’s Dictionary defines average as
indifferent, moderate, mediocre, second-rate, common, ordinary.
Exceptional is defined as
extraordinary, phenomenal, unusual, outstanding, remarkable, prominent.
What happens when we only say we want to live an exceptional life but are not committed to setting goals, putting structures in place and then determine in our minds to move from average living to exceptional living?
We usually stay where we are, not excelling but practicing wishful thinking.
To live an average life and never finding out your purpose, your beliefs, values and simply strut through life doing everything in an average way is merely existing. Some people feel that it is too hard to work on themselves, to become exceptional, hence, the graveyard is the richest place in the world because it is filled with people who went to the grave with unwritten books and unsung songs. These people went to the grave never having developed or embraced their greatness and lived an average mediocre life.
Case Study:
Jane was the epitome of grace and decorum. She oftentimes in High School spoke about all the great places she wanted to visit and the great career she couldn’t wait to have. Shortly after graduating from school Jane fell in love with a guy in the Army and got married. She moved away to a remote location and soon had six children.While they continued traveling to places they have never been she became depressed as these places were not the ones she had dreamt about. Instead she lived on the base in countries that were sparsely populated and lacked adventurous places with limited amount of things to do. Because of the amount of children she had and the short time she spent in these countries it was very hard to find employment.
She soon started gaining weight and lived for her children totally pouring into them and neglecting herself. Ten years later when she visited her home town her friends were shocked to know that the graceful, classy, sophisticated Jane now lead such an average life one that lacked meaning and purpose. After several insightful conversation with her High School friend who was now an Executive Leadership Coach she decided she had lead a boring, ordinary, meaningless life and wanted to step out of her life of mediocrity into an exceptional one. A life filled with purpose and meaning. Jane started an exercise program and went on to achieve her degree. She got a job that she loved and said that she will never again worked harder on anything or anyone else more than she worked on herself.
Jane dreamt of living an exceptional life but had settled for an average one because she had lost her motivation to become all the things she envisioned. While her husband fulfilled his dreams she stayed in the background . She was not being fulfilled but she was the only person who could have changed her destiny as where she was did not determine where she was going. Jane soon realized that :-
Determination + Action = Exceptional Life