Is "C" Normal?

Educators told us for years that “C” is Average. But Average of what?

The section you are assigned to? The entire class you are in? The entire population of people at your age level in the state or country?

When the answer is “yes” to any of these categories, the meaning of “C” is significantly changed.

A “C” in an Honor’s class or in Graduate School is considered a failure and will put you on the path to reassignment back with the masses.

This happened to one of my daughter’s as she was pursuing her MBA. The grades after the first test were mostly “C” and the class confronted the instructor with the reality of Graduate School grading. But the instructor would not budge and the bulk of the class chose to drop out of the class and the program because they felt they had met the objectives of the syllabus and were being graded unfairly. Obviously “C” in this case, although quite Average, was unacceptable as Normal to the students.

On the other hand, in a class of low achievers, a “C” can actually be a mark of distinction that none of the students wants painted on their forehead because it will make them abnormal from their peers who are all failing or pulling “Ds.”

The point is Average, Normal, “C” are all dangerous descriptors of our position in society. Dangerous in that it will put us in a position of being told what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.

Most of us actually accept this quite peacefully. We spend our entire lives in a single job or in many jobs reading the orders sent down from above. We allow the government to tell us how much of our money we can keep, or if we are really lucky receive back at the end of the year in the form of a tax refund or some other handout program. Our pension for our “retirement” years will be insufficient to live on since it will be significantly less than what was insufficient the year before to make ends meet.

Is this really the American Dream? Is this really Normal?

If it is, is it what you really want?

You can look it up – take 100 people at age 20 and look at them 45 years later at age 65. Less than 5% can really say they can live on the resources they have built up in the 45 years of working life. Most are in debt, still owe on their home, have a lot of useless possessions that are liabilities not assets.

How did it happen?

You can blame lots of things for it.

But the real source of the problem is ME!!

At some point I have to stand up and take responsibility for the morass I have put myself in: the indulgences I have participated in, the poor choices and lack of performance that have led to my current standing.

After all, there are 5% who are not in my situation. They have succeeded to reach the point where they can take care of themselves without outside assistance.

And you can’t say they lied, cheated, or stole to get there. They took advantage of the opportunities that were presented to them rather than being comfortable with the status quo. They saw obstacles, not excuses. They saw building blocks to success, not failures. They bought houses in down markets and sold in up markets, rather than selling in down markets and turning around and buying up markets.

Strangely enough, their high school or college grades rarely positioned them any better to take advantage of these opportunities. It was more in understanding the basics of life performance, and just taking responsibility and learning as they marched along day to day.

The bottom line – “C” may be perceived as being Average and thus quite Normal, but it will have little to do with where you end up.