![Quotefancy-18778-3840x2160.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQFmuQjwxmVrN9divCbseDLrYCimKdrz2da2ifkNZyWz1/Quotefancy-18778-3840x2160.jpg) The one and only rule is:

There is no such a thing as a free lunch

Nothing is free not even knowledge. ### You have to PAY attention. ![bookman2.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVEyc9YHAtkStKX6SMiTVTmT199hoJaJkk5dFoPX6n62e/bookman2.jpg) Okay, now that we've set the ground rule the rest is up to you. In the words of author _Thomas Smith_:

“If it is to be, it’s up to me.”

[You Can Have Whatever You Want if You Do Whatever It Takes](https://medium.com/personal-growth/you-can-have-whatever-you-want-if-you-do-whatever-it-takes-e8eaf22efdc6)

Do what no one does to get what no one has

“Where you are is a result of who you were, but where you end up depends entirely on who you choose to be from this moment forward.”

~ _Hal Elrod_, Best-selling author

“Successful people do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do.”

~ _Darren Hardy_, former editor of SUCCESS Magazine

“Things don’t change. We change.”

~ _Henry David Thoreau_

“All around you is an environment that is trying to pull you down to Second-Class Street.”

~ _David Schwartz_ Leaving the herd is scary. Most people won’t do it — even if they hate the herd. Most people are not willing to sacrifice the chains of their supposed “security” with the risky yet joyous freedom that comes from a life led entirely on your own terms. Being mediocre is easy. Everyone’s doing it. All it takes is putting forth just enough effort to get by without getting yelled at. This is how most people live — how they’ll continue to live.

“All of us, more than we recognize, are products of the thinking around us. And much of this thinking is small.”

~ _David Schwartz_ Maybe you’re trying to leave the herd now, but don’t know how to proceed. The key to escaping mediocrity is to become willing to do **whatever it takes**.

“Everything worthwhile is done through surmounting the associated negative experience.”

~ _Mark Manson_

[In summation](#)

- Remain focused and maintain your *sanity*.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

~ _Albert Eistein_ (Attributed) _Source:_ [Medium](https://medium.com/personal-growth/you-can-have-whatever-you-want-if-you-do-whatever-it-takes-e8eaf22efdc6) Related read:

[Carl Jung – To be normal is the ideal aim of the unsuccessful](https://steemit.com/carljung/@merahza/carl-jung-to-be-normal-is-the-ideal-aim-of-the-unsuccessful)