Do you strive for Perfection or Excellence?
A lot of people strive for perfection – and end up never starting and not doing anything.
Striving for excellence does not mean that you must be perfect. It means that you use your talents, abilities, and skills in the best way possible and get ahead of others by giving that little extra.
“Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well” – John W Gardiner
Thoughts on Excellence:
1. Excellence should not be seen as a destination to arrive to but a journey to embark on.
2. It is also very important that while on this journey constant and deliberate improvements must/should be made.
3. Excellence is formed by doing things right and in a better way continuously over time.
4. To be excellence means to always seek to give the best at every given opportunity while we take it a step further every day.
5. More importantly, if you don’t have a mindset of excellence, you cannot give excellence and neither can you be a person of excellence.
Accomplishing a task in an excellent fashion gives you great pride and self-esteem since the quality of your work is a measure of the quality of yourself.
What Are The Mindsets That Affects Excellence?
1. Quantity is better than quality:
In this part of the world, somewhere deep in our subconscious, there is that idea that quantity is better than quality. So, we usually compromise on quality and instead go for quantity. This mindset is detrimental to being an excellence-oriented person because you’d often find yourself going for something of less quality just because the quantity is more.
2. You can’t achieve excellence while you are still small:
So many people believe they have to wait till they get to a higher station in life or until their business becomes huge before they pursue excellence because now somewhere in their mind they tell themselves ‘’nobody really knows or notice what I’m doing now” so why the fuss. This is a wrong mindset because ‘YOU DON’T GROW BIG TO PRACTICE EXCELLENCE, YOU PRACTICE EXCELLENCE TO GROW BIG’.
3. You can’t maintain excellence once you’ve grown large:
On the other hand, some people believe you can’t maintain excellence once you’ve grown large. This usually not true because there are many extremely large multinational organizations around the world today who still maintains the same standard of excellence and even improve on it year after year.
4. Without a lot of money, excellence is impossible:
Most people believe that excellence is impossible without a lot of money. This is a wrong and dangerous mindset as it often causes people from pursuing excellence. The truth is that ‘IT’S NOT RESOURCES THAT ATTRACTS EXCELLENCE, IT’S EXCELLENCE THAT ATTRACTS RESOURCES’’. Try and be excellent at what you do and where you are now, and more people will seek you out and as you are known for excellence, you’ll begin to attract valuable resources to yourself.
5. Only top/rich people deserve excellence:
This is a poor man’s mentality that must be scrapped by anyone who wishes to attain great heights in life. What you can’t see in your mind, you cannot see in your life. You must first see yourself as a person of excellence before you can ever become one.
Excellence is a must because things are improving around us daily and you don’t want to be left behind.
However, excellence attracts excellence and communicates value attached.
Here are some practical ways of bringing more excellence into your life:
1. Always give more than is expected of you.
2. Have a passion for whatever you do for a living.
3. Believe that what you do matters, and that it will make a difference.
4. Challenge yourself to excel all the Time – and build your confidence and competence.
5. Focus on one thing at a time
6. Use all available tools.
Remember, living a life of excellence is not difficult, it’s just an attitude of mind.
Simply decide right now to give it your best shot – and you will be amazed at what life gives you back.
Article contributed by: Timilehin Abodunrin
