Ditto on what Sunny said. There is nothing wrong if others chose not to kill themselves to be the very best and are happy with "mediocre". My POV is, if my house is messy, but I find that killing myself over making it clean is peaceful to my well being, well, then who is anyone else to call it mediocrity? It's the most I am willing to give without sacrificing other areas or my well being in my life. Therefore it's mediocrity in your eyes, maybe, but not mine. Why do you expect others to be hard on themselves? maybe they are chosing not to sacrifice themselves? maybe they are choosing to be happy with who they are, even if it's not perfect.
Why do you crave such praise from everyone else? You do what you do for praise? For accolades? Doesn't really matter who sees it as long as you are happy with yourself. Sure, in the work environment praise boosts moral. But otherwise, you should be working your butt off, striving to be your best because that is your choice. Because you want to reap your perceived benefits of it.
I maintain straight A's in school right now. Might end with this class, but nonetheless, I am striving for me. I'm liking the 4.0. people have told me they are proud of me, and that is great. I post it on FB sometimes when I am proud of myself. But it's like me announcing to the world I am proud of my accomplishments. I'm actually not looking for praise. I worked hard, and I am proud of ME. With all I have going on while going back to school, my friends say i should just aim to pass and be proud of that. But now I am pushing, because it feels good to me to see my A's.
Forget everyone else, Zues. Forget about their acknowledgement of your good work. Forget about your perception of their mediocrity and how you feel they should be hard on themselves. None of that matters! You matter!
