We are very proud individually of our country.

We are very proud of the individual lives we build as we live in the USA.

We have the freedom to do most anything we want to do.

As little children, we have big dreams of what we want to be - from fireman for the adventure of fighting the fire and saving others, or a doctor helping people regain their health, or president, the ultimate leader in our country.

Somewhere along the way, we get lost. Oh, yeah, a few do become professional firemen and a few more become volunteer firemen in our local communities. Others become doctors with their stress riddled lives. And every four or eight years, we select a new winner of the presidential lottery who we then torture with public opinion as long as he (or potentially she) is in office.

Most of us are forced into just being "normal" and living in the Plain, Old, Everyday USA. Our jobs are "normal", our lives are "normal", our families are "normal" as we move on from day to day.

I was a college student during the late 60’s and some of my contemporaries led the way against the war. Other generations since have had their windmills to attack. But over the long haul, any spunk or radicalism we might harbor is removed by one means or another, or well-controlled so we will not cause much of a problem to society and the rulers.

And then, strangely enough, we wonder why we have "normal" results. Why do we fall within a very limited band of income, along with our neighbors and friends? A few fall outside the norm, one way or the other, but do you know any of them. We wonder why 95% end up dead or dead broke when we reach that magic retirement age of 65, unable to support ourselves without the assistance of others through the government. And we have been taught that is our birthright.

Politicians tell us the gap between "normal" and those nasty rich people continues to "grow." Ten percent are on the bottom and they are the poor, the ones who can't keep up with the "normal" crowd and require additional help from the government or private social programs to approach "normal"." I have always wondered how we can use a percentage to declare someone poor since there will always be 10% at the bottom.

But how could we be anything but "normal"? Why can we get extraordinary results from a "normal," ordinary life?

The truth is we cannot get extraordinary results unless we provide something out of the "norm" to the marketplace!

The statistics basically follow the bell shaped curve. Of 100 people randomly selected at 20 years of age, when they reach age 65, only about 5 will be self-supporting or above. The rest will be required to work, or be broke or dead.

We are encouraged to think out of the box – sometimes. It has become a management cliché. But when we actually perform out of the box, it allows us to keep the job that has not provided satisfactory results.

As we earn more as an employee, we are taxed at higher rates, so we actually have very little more to show for the extra effort. Marginal tax rates approach 60 to 70% including state income and sales taxes. So for every $50 more we earn, we only receive $15 to $20 to actually spend. After all, you are becoming rich and the rest of society doesn’t want you to move out of the "norm."

So, do you really want to be "normal"? First, you must understand that there is a big difference between "normal" and "average." "Average" is a description of who we are, "normal" is a description of the results we are achieving. We have little control of who we are. It is a function of nature and nurture, two factors we cannot control.

On the other hand, we do have control of the results we achieve. When we look at the high achievers in society, their results are based much more on what they do than who they are. Identify the actions they take to achieve the results they are getting. And then do those things. Just as important, identify the things they do not do and avoid those as well.

Jeff Ferguson