Mediocrity is the result of anything one is doing with no genuine interest. ~Mickey Maguire
I wrote the statement above in another article long ago. Perhaps it explains why so many people don't perform well on the job. It is worse now than ever before.
I believe when people are passionate about what it is they do for a living they will pour their heart into it. They will become one of the best in their field. But when someone pursues a career path for the "money" or prestige that it brings, they will never achieve the kind of success, nor the level of performance, that they should.
I have met a lot of people over the years who became doctors because they wanted to make a lot of money. I've been told countless times that they would rather have my job. At the time, I was teaching fly fishing for a living. The money was less than I could have made in other businesses, but it wasn't bad. I loved what I was doing.
In business management, I have worked with lots of rank and file employees. I have seen great performers, but they are rare. Most people just work for a paycheck. That leads me to conclude that if someone has no genuine interest in what they are doing-- the job just pays the bills-- they will never achieve excellence.
It is sad that our educational system is not designed to discover what kids talents are and cultivate those. Granted, it takes time to really get to know your students and see their interests. Most student to teacher ratios in schools across the USA make that sort of thing difficult if not impossible. Colleges are even worse.
Parents could help their kids determine what they'd really like to do based on their passions, but most parents these days are too busy with their own lives to really get to know their kids the way they should. Left to their own devices, kids often spend their time amusing themselves rather than planning for the future.
No matter what the cause, if you are working just for a paycheck and you don't love your job, you are in the wrong field. It's never too late to change; but, that's entirely up to you.
