Are You Hopelessly Doomed To Mediocrity?

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“The unused capacities of the human mind to learn, to think, and to create are enormous! Few of us develop more than a fraction of our capacity for intellectual competence and creativity” -Dr. Howard Clinebell

This was over a decade ago. While pursuing a Higher National Diploma in Marketing in one of the nation`s Polytechnics, I had a brief but instructive encounter with  a fellow student on this particular day; we had just completed our examinations and so were officially on holidays but I had chosen to remain in a rented apartment that was in close proximity to campus. This friend of mine who also happened to be my roommate was a full-time worker and so only came around during examinations. 

He chanced upon me while I was reading a book.  Astonished, he passed a comment which has stayed with me till date. He remarked, “We just completed our papers and you are still reading. Aren`t you tired of reading?” To him, once we were done with our examinations for that semester, we need not bother our heads with reading or studying as it were. Regrettably, this sentiment is shared by many students and graduates alike. After graduation, many are hardly able to complete the reading of a single book in one year. They simply do not think they need to read and yet there is so much more to be learned if they make time to read good books, magazines, newspapers and other reading resources.
            
 As a matter of fact, in this day and age, information about all kinds of topics and subject areas abounds on the internet and on several other platforms. The sad reality is that rather than capitalize on these wide varieties of opportunities to broaden our scope and knowledge base, acquire new skills and competencies, challenge our thinking and engage with the thoughts and ideas of some of the most erudite of minds, some use these avenues for nefarious and counter-productive ends. It is such a sad reality but should not be your case.
            
 Do you know that some of the world`s phenomenal achievers and billionaires are voracious readers? The likes of John Maxwell, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are avid readers. If you are privileged as it were to have been through school and as such have acquired the ability to read, it is about time you made the most of it. Napoleon Hill, the best selling author of “Think and grow rich” makes a critical point when he noted, “The person who stops studying merely because he has finished school is forever hopelessly doomed to mediocrity, no matter what may be his calling. The way of success is the way of continuous pursuit of knowledge.” 

Until you make reading part and parcel of your life, you consign yourself to mediocrity. Irrespective of whatever field of endeavor you may be engaged in, it would be in your best interest to subject yourself to the discipline of reading high-value content that pertains to your niche. That said do not limit yourself to only your area of expertise or field of work. Read wide. There is so much relevant and up to date information out there. As you engage with books and other reading resources, you will be engaging with ideas that could make a world of difference in your life, education, career, business and every facet of your life.
Written by Daniel Dela Dunoo
(Freelance writer/editor, blogger & published author)
Email: dudelda3@yahoo.com / danieldeladunoo@gmail.com

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