When you reach the pinnacle of certain areas in life, you ARE the standard.
(I mean kinda. The standard is still the standard. I will expound on this.)
It doesn’t mean that there aren’t areas in which you excel — versus ones you need serious work in — BUT the point is that:
The ones you DO excel in, it’s pretty much EXPECTED that the standard you’ve consistently reached IS who you are.
So if you start falling short for some reason, ppl be like, “Whoa. You okay? This isn’t like you.”
Because your perceived IDENTITY is greatness.
Which is better/worse…? I can’t decide:
To be expected to be great and be disappointing when you fall short of your usual greatness?
OR
To be generally mediocre that when you’re actually great, everyone is surprised because their perception of you is YIKES.
I’ll let you choose. 🤍