If you want to have a good life in today’s world, you can’t be average. I know it sounds cliche, and as though I’m trying to bring you into the fold of hustle culture. I don’t believe in hustle culture. But if you want to win at life, you’re going to want to do what it takes to become above average. What does it mean to win at life? In my estimation, it means to be healthy, earn a good living, and spend your time doing the things you want to do with the people you would like to do them with. The good news about today’s era, is that this dream is achievable for a lot of people. The bad news is that the global landscape is quite competitive. If you want to create a great life, being average isn’t an option. Here’s why.
Globalization is making it hard for the young people of the world to get by
If you want to get anything done, you’re competing on a global marketplace. The effects of this haven’t actually been totally priced in yet. We’re still dealing with the after-effects of COVID, and there are still language, geographic, and regulatory barriers keeping the world from becoming totally meritocratic. But remote work has really taken off. Skilled professionals are able to earn money from anywhere in the world, and this has driven the cost of labor way down. If you want to have fun when you’re young, you’re going to need to work harder than most. Thankfully this is pretty easy. It feels like a lot of people have given up sometimes.
The world is in a recession
We aren’t in a nominal recession. The economy is growing. But there aren’t a lot of jobs out there. There isn’t a ton of opportunity, if you’re a young person who’s just looking to make their way in the world without any experience. Jobs are paying less than ever, and prices are going up. Things are getting harder for everyone. If you want to see your life improve, you’re going to need to do better than most. It’s pretty much that simple. You can look at the IMF website to confirm the statements I made in this paragraph.
Quality of life has gone up, causing people to get lazier
If you’re a member of the working class or working poor, you probably resent the above sentence. But globally speaking, it’s true. Go to any major city in the world in 1884. There were likely slums without sewage all over the place. A lot of places in the world only just received these privileges in the last 3 decades. It’s insane how much quality of life has gone up, globally speaking. People have gotten much lazier as a result. If you go to a major city in 2025 and walk around a downtown area, you’re going to see drug addicts. This is true even in poor countries. Do you think a man living in 1884 could have imagined that people in 2024 would be so rich that those in poor countries could afford to spend their lives on drugs? Absolutely not. It’s not immediately obvious, but people have gotten much lazier. This is good, because while you have to do better than them, it isn’t hard.
The gap between the average man, and those in the top 10% is huge
There are a lot of people out there who aren’t getting much done. Sometimes this is due to illness or disability, other times it’s due to laziness or lack of knowledge. This becomes clear when you put your mind to something for a few months. The guys at the top are getting a lot of stuff done. They’re adding a lot to the world, and their efforts improve the lives of many people. It’s easy to beat the average man, but keeping up with those on the cutting edge is harder. Industries are changing faster than ever, and you need to work really hard if you want to have a shot at keeping up. I wrote 200 articles this year, but I’m not sure that’s such a big deal. It seems like that’s the bare minimum to run a successful blog nowadays. The same can be said across industries. Globalization has made the world more competitive. People who perform at a high level in life, perform at a really high level nowadays. If you want to experience success, it can be done from anywhere, but you’re going to need to put in a lot of effort into what you do regardless. There’s no way around it, now that the economic landscape is such that you’re competing with 8 billion people.
If you want to live a great life, I don’t recommend being average. Being average will probably lead to a difficult life, as a lot of people are either poor, mentally unbalanced, or unhealthy. If you want to experience the best of what life has to offer, you’re going to need to learn to be better than most. You need to work hard, be consistent, and learn to delay gratification. It’s simple, but not easy. People will want to distract you and drag you away from your goals. This isn’t out of malice. It’s simply because they’re average. The harder you work, the further you distance yourself from that. This is a good thing. It’ll mean better houses for you to live in, better healthcare and schools for your kids, and a lower chance of becoming a victim of crime. You’ll get to live around smarter people. Every day will feel as though it’s a good day, because you’re likely going to be able to do what you’re passionate about. It’s all about putting your head down though and doing the work on the front end. Don’t allow yourself to be average.
Thanks for paying attention.
