Excellence is a drive from within to learn, grow, adapt and participate 100% in life’s changing environment
On a scale of 1-10 (10 being 100% and 0 being 0%) where would you rate yourself on your level of engagement in this game called life?... reflect on your career, health, relationships, family and social engagements.
If we look to compare our excellence externally we will always find someone whom has excelled beyond us, true excellence is therefore measured in comparison to your internal standards and not the comparison of others.
Excellence starts from where you are at in life now, engaging at a level of 100% outside and beyond the comfort zone of what you already know you can do in life.
For example, imagine that you are a world class runner in the 1500 metres race. For years you've trained for the Olympics, your entire life focused on running the perfect race. The Olympic trials arrive, and you qualify, performing exactly the way you planned.
Every day you work out, preparing to run the perfect race at the Olympics. You eat a special diet, run sprints, lift. weights. You give everything 100%. Finally the Olympics arrive, you run well and make the finals.
On the big day you wake up ready, you review your strategy, your careful plan for running the perfect race!
The race begins! The 1st lap goes just the way you planned, breath and heart rate under control, positioned in the pack just where you want. At the end of the lap you are perfectly at your ideal pace. The 2nd lap goes just as well and you pass two
Competitors and move up into second place. Only two laps to go. A quarter of the way around the 3rd lap you begin to pass the leader. As you do, the leader stumbles and you do too!
Your mind is screaming "NO"! as you feel yourself falling. You hit the ground with a sickening thud. What do you do? Are you a 100% player in the game of life? Quickly you jump up and take off after the pack!
Halfway around the 3rd lap everyone is 7 metres ahead of you. You know you will have to run harder than you have ever run in your life so you really start to push it!
As the 3rd lap ends you catch the leading group, but the leader is still 3 metres ahead!
Your heart and head is pounding from over-exertion, your breath raw, your internal dialogue is screaming that you'll make it. You press on even harder, harder than you have ever run before. Three quarters of a lap to go, now only 2 metres behind the leader, maybe you'll at least get the silver. You push even harder!
At the halfway mark you pull up even with the leader. Just then, the leader starts pushing harder for the final kick. Now what? You are gasping, light headed, your legs burning with pain, your heart ready to burst! ! ! THE CROWD IS ROARING! ! !
You reach even deeper into a place you have never touched before and find a bit more energy, a bit more drive. You push after the leader. Quarter lap to go, you battle side by side, pushing, struggling, gasping like a wild animal you fight off the exhaustion and pain. Your competitor is giving everything! step for step you both race for the finish and at the very last instant you reach even deeper. With one last burst of energy you dive across the line and win by a centimetre!
Did you run a "perfect" race?...no, but did you run an excellent race? Absolutely!
(Story from the book Live your dreams - By Michael Hall)
We can't predict and plan for every challenge life will present us, so perfection is usually difficult to achieve. We can however use every moment we have to go for excellence.
Go for gold in everything you do! and in doing so you will create a habit of excelling in Human Excellence