From Mediocrity to Being Yourself
Don’t shrink to fit a fading shape. This land needs your voice, not your silence. Don’t follow - create. Don’t blend in - become. (8)
Reza Sahraei
5/18/20252 min read
1. Are We Becoming Mediocre?
Be honest . Are you holding back? Not because you have nothing to say,
but because you’re afraid to stand out?
You’re not alone.
In Canada, we’ve learned to shrink.
To stay safe. To avoid being different.
And fear? It works.
We saw it in the last election. the loudest fear won.
Now we wait. For permission.
For someone else to go first.
But a country doesn’t shine
when its people stay silent.
2. Where Mediocrity Hides
Mediocrity doesn’t collapse a country.
It dulls it - quietly.
Behind smiles, slogans, and systems
that keep everyone agreeable
and no one truly alive.
◾ Immigration
We bring people in but only those who fit the mold.
We talk about diversity, but rarely hand over the mic.
They’re invited to contribute as long as they don’t challenge the script.
◾ Foreign Policy
We echo global narratives.
We align with institutions like the WEF
but hesitate to speak for ourselves.
We’re respected but rarely remembered.
◾ Education
We train kids to pass but not to think.
Creativity is an afterthought.
Expression feels risky.
This is how a country fades
not in crisis, but in habit.
3. Outsourced Goodness
Canada cares but our care has become outsourced.
We join global causes.
We fund distant initiatives.
We speak the right words.
But are we living them?
We’ve stopped building anything that’s truly ours.
We’re performing, not embodying.
If we want to matter globally,
we have to live our values here at home - first.
4. The Turning Point
There comes a moment
quiet, personal
when you realize:
you’ve been holding your breath.
You’ve softened your voice.
Delayed your truth.
Shrunk to survive.
That’s the moment everything begins to change.
Mediocrity is a habit.
And it can be broken.
5.From Mediocrity to Being Yourself
What happens when we stop shrinking?
We begin to show up - fully, originally, unapologetically.
Not louder. Just truer.
We move from fitting in…
to bringing our own style.
From hiding behind systems…
to expressing what only we can say.
Being yourself isn’t soft.
It’s strength.
It’s clarity.
It’s choosing presence over performance.
It looks like:
A teacher encouraging real voice, not just answers
A citizen creating without asking for permission
An immigrant shaping the future, not just adapting to it
A country choosing its own path, not echoing others
When Canadians start expressing themselves
not to please, but to serve something real
we shift from mediocrity to meaning.
And from meaning, everything new can grow.
6. The Invitation
If you’ve been hiding - stop.
If you’ve been waiting - begin.
Say what matters.
Create what calls you.
Support someone who dares.
Because: Mediocrity ends when truth begins.
Authentic expression begins when we stop apologizing.
Canada we’re not here to blend in. We’re here to shine.
So Stop waiting for the government to fix us
Speak up and Be yourself.
Inspired by insights from Richard Rudd’s The Gene Keys: Unlocking the Higher Purpose Hidden in Your DNA.
