What is a Normal Life? Live an Extraordinary Life!
What is a normal life and why would anyone want to live one? Before you answer that, lets think about what a normal looks like:
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- Normal is broke and living paycheck to paycheck
- Normal is buying junk to impress the Joneses
- Normal is watching 4 hours of TV a day
- Normal is living for the weekend
- Normal is working until you die and dedicating the best years to it
- Normal is being glued to social media waiting for a “like”
- Normal is being dissatisfied with life
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“Normal” people are wasting time in the status quo, trying to fit in and listening to people’s advice that are no farther along in bettering themselves. They are living life like crabs in a bucket:
Crab mentality is a metaphor for social behaviors that encourage a state of being average. The analogy focuses on a belief that that members of a social group will try to reduce the self-confidence of someone who achieves success beyond the average of the group. They are essentially made to feel out of place due to envy and resentment from the group and therefore halt or slow their progress. This is much like crabs in a bucket pulling each other down. As soon as one has climbed above the others, instead of building on its success and working together to climb up the side of a bucket they will pull it down and keep each other trapped at the bottom.
Don’t Let This be You!
Screw a normal life. Life is too short to waste it away doing things that don’t truly bring you happiness. As we highlighted in the Money is Nothing, Time is Everything post, there are only 3 things you can do with your time:
Your Time = (Want to Do) + (Have to Do) + (Drift)
A normal life is a life with an uncontrolled level of drift, driven by lack of purpose and direction. It is time to live an extraordinary life. Challenge the status quo and push the limits. Live the life that would leave you with no regrets if it was over tomorrow.
Live a Fulfilled Life
We have found a new favorite documentary called “Fine Lines”. It covers interviews with some well-known names in the world of climbing and other extreme sports and shares their perspectives on life. There is a lot that can be learned from these people. Some might see them as crazy individuals who only want to put their life on the line. However, I would argue that these extreme athletes understand what brings them true fulfillment and are willing to take on a level of risk in their life in pursuit of it.
There is a significant difference between living recklessly and living a fulfilled life. A reckless life is one where you say that you should live life to its detriment due to the fact that it could be over tomorrow (This is the YOLO {You Only Live Once} mindset… If that is still a thing). The antithesis to this is pushing the limits for a fulfilled life so that you have no regrets. Leaving nothing on the table. Are these different? You could say that in both cases you would be doing something that could endanger yourself and therefore are the same; but, I would argue that these are actually very different.
To me, the distinguishing factor is in the mindset and execution. YOLO comes from a negative state of mind as the race to the bottom begins. YOLO takes the responsibility off of the individual as they utilize it as an excuse to disregard the consequences for their actions because there may not be a tomorrow. Those featured in Fine Lines documentary, on the other hand, are approaching life from a place of growth and enlightenment. They strive to live an inspired life but are fully aware and accept the responsibility for their actions.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that putting one’s life on the line for extreme sports is a heroic endeavor.
There is a fine line between badass and dumbass – Fine Lines
Know Yourself
I believe that another distinction in achieving a fulfilled life is having a deep understanding of yourself (not an inflated version … but an honest understanding of yourself). Know what your limits are and learn how to continue to encourage/expand upon those limits. Its an extension of the 1% better everyday idea. Slowly push yourself more and more every day and constantly get better. Grow your confidence:
Accept the risk that allows you to live the life you want to live
Push out negative thoughts… be in control
Have the utmost confidence in yourself… it is very empowering
– Fine Lines
As we talked about in the New Year’s Resolutions Are a Joke post – Find your tribe. The ones that are pushing themselves to be the best they can, the ones that encourage you to push yourself. Also, take some time away in a quiet place away from your phone, away from social media, away from the other crabs in the bucket. Think about what mountain is in your life that you want to climb.
Finally, You Shouldn’t Live in Fear
Living constantly afraid of bad things happening is potentially even worse than YOLO. This mindset completely wrecks your life to the point where you are scared to do anything:
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- Scared of the future including things that are not even close to being in your control
- Scared to put yourself out there
- Scared of making mistakes
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If you spend your life living in fear, then what is the point?
And at this point, I cannot help but drop in some Lonely Island Boys… Just in case you never got to experience this one:
Summary
You do not know when or how your life is going to end. Live everyday to the fullest and don’t accept normal.
This does not mean that you should do things that negatively impact your health or your future wellbeing for the sake of no tomorrow. You should also not live your life in fear and regret. You should find your true self and pursue fulfillment. You should embrace all of life’s ups and downs and learn from them.
Without the lows you do not have the highs. You are where you are today because of all of the circumstances that got you here
– Fine Lines
Live a life without regret. Put yourself out there. Understand the risks and own them. Make the choices that will bring you fulfillment. Choose to live a better life!
Until Next time, continue to Choose Beta
– Chris
