[glangdale]

You appear to conflate the absence of self-optimization with 'mediocrity', which seems ... questionable.

It's easy to find examples of both: some great historical figures had rigorous programs of conscious self-improvement; others became great by immediately engaging with some problem entirely outside themselves and if any self-improvement resulted, it wasn't a primary or conscious goal.

[xkcd-sucks]

And some great historical figures ret-conned their own self-improvement programs and suffering in order to maintain a cult of personality