Don’t Get Stuck In The Yellow
Do you know where you are in life? Are you where you want to be? If you aren’t, do you know how you’re going to get there? Think about those questions for a minute.
For the last two weeks, I’ve had this idea stuck in my head about getting trapped in the yellow. It’s a trap I see many people falling into and one I find myself caught by much too frequently. You’re probably asking yourself “what is the yellow?”. It represents mediocrity and it sits between inadequacy (red) and greatness (green). The problem with the yellow is that it’s not the worst. It’s the middle of the pack. If you’re in the yellow, you could be doing better but you could also be doing worse. It’s a dangerous place to live. It’s a breeding ground for complacency and passivity; neither of which should be a welcome part of one’s life.
So, how does someone get stuck in the yellow? Well, it doesn’t happen in a single moment. It doesn’t even happen over days or weeks. It takes years. Years of growing comfortable where you are. Years of justifying your lack of progress and growth. And years of comparing yourself to people in the red. Let’s talk about that last one because I think it’s the most common and most dangerous. When you’re in the yellow, it hurts to look at the green too long because it makes you aware of your mediocrity. But looking at the red feels good because you’re focused on their inadequacy instead of your mediocrity. It’s not uncomfortable. It actually makes you feel good about being mediocre. It expects nothing from you. So you stay exactly where you are.
A recent example of this in my own life was when I realized I was watching too much Financial Audit on YouTube. Financial Audit is a show by Caleb Hammer, a personal finance guru, where he sits down with people who, usually, are in a terrible financial state. He walks through their income, their expenses, and all their debt in a dramatic, entertaining way. It’s a very entertaining show. Too entertaining. I found myself watching more and more of this show and I didn’t really know why. The videos have great thumbnails and enticing titles but it was more than that. I told myself I was educating myself on personal finance by watching the show but I knew that wasn’t it either.
And then it hit me in a very uncomfortable way that I just enjoyed watching people go through their terrible financial situations. It made me feel good and better about my own finances. But the thing is, I’m not killing it with personal finance either. I’m just not as bad as the people on the show. Watching this show was keeping me stuck in the yellow. I’m financially mediocre. I have a comfortable salary and no debt but I don’t have great savings or any notable investments. But instead of having someone teach me where to invest my money right now, I was feeling good watching people talk about how bad their finances were. Bleh.
That’s all interesting but let’s talk about the most important question: how do you get out of the yellow (or red, for that matter)? The simplest way is to shift your focus. Stop focusing on the red. Looking down gets you nowhere. If you want to move up and to the right, look up and to the right. Where you focus your attention is also where your effort will be directed. I like to think about the quote, “If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” Are you putting yourself in rooms where people are smarter than you? It’s uncomfortable but that’s what breeds growth. You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Maybe it’s time to reflect on who you’re surrounding yourself with. If you feel stuck in mediocrity, surround yourself with greatness.
It takes humility to look at and seek greatness in spite of your mediocrity. But it takes complacency and foolishness to look at inadequacy and think your mediocrity is greatness. Don’t get stuck in the yellow.
