Hugh’s Blog

Why settle for better than average?

I gave a talk this week to 200 realtors and it was a gas. Imagine what it’s like to be in a room with that many motivated people, let alone presenting to them. There was enough energy in the room to light up a town of 10,000.

I wanted to shake them up a bit and I knew that, like any group, there was a standard deviation distribution in the room. There would be about 25% that were low performers making less than a minimum wage. Another 25% that were the star performers earning loads of dough and who were great at what they did. And there would be the remaining half of the room that were “better than average”.

My message was why settle for better than average?

According to Nov, 2009 results from the Royal Bank a full 32% of Canadians (and this is up from 28% only a year ago) have no retirement savings plans. Nada. The best plan they have is to go to the local bingo hall every Friday night and hope for the best.

Then there are the 30% that have plans in place and well on their way to covering more than basic living expenses in time for their 65th birthday. That leaves about one third of Canadians that are “better than average”, They will have more than living expenses, but still be watching what they spend until some daughter or son signs off as their power of attorney. Who wants that?

In Canada 51% of us are overweight or obese. That’s a crime. No wonder we are spending billions more each year to try to keep up with the cost of our medical system. And here’s the kicker: a full 53% of us believe that our weight has little or no bearing on our health! That folks is the average. Why would you want to be just better than average? That’s like saying “I have committed to good health. I will refuse every second donut.”

And finally two thirds of Canadians do not get even the minimum (which is about 20 minutes three times a week) of exercise. Again, that’s the average person – why would you want to be just better than that?

Being better than average is easy. Save a bit, watch what you eat, exercise once in a while.

Sorry, I prefer to be excellent. How about you?

Hugh D. Culver is a thought leader in personal performance at work. He has worked with over 450 organizations to inspire change, growth and success in the workplace. You can reach Hugh at hugh@HughCulver.com