Striving for Excellence

Excellence…it’s a concept that seems to have escaped much of the modern world. We live in a culture where “good enough” will get you by, and many believe that “good enough” is worthy of some reward. The idea that you should always do your best in everything you do has become a rare quality in this present age, and for many is merely a quaint memory of the way the world once was. Of course, no one is perfect, but the idea of pursuing excellence should be paramount in our daily lives. Pursuing excellence gives oneself pride in whatever they accomplish because they know that they’ve put forth their best effort. That’s a pride that might otherwise be unknown. The pursuit of excellence also pushes people to accomplish things that they may have thought impossible, but the desire to continually grow and the push to be better stretches them to attain to things they may have believed unattainable. Unfortunately, our self-serving society has created a generation of mediocre citizens content to live their lives as “good enough”.

“Good enough” has never produced anything worth having. “Good enough” doesn’t get you that raise you think you deserve. “Good enough” will keep you in your current state as long as you think “good enough” is “good enough”. “Good enough” is likely to blame for many of the hardships that our world is enduring today because of the examples set for the children of those who live lives by doing just enough to get by. Each generation is being taught to believe that any effort, however little it may be, is “good enough” (I’m really beginning to hate that phrase) and “good enough” become less and less with each passing generation.

For me, “good enough” simply isn’t! I attribute my desire to pursue excellence and always put forth my best effort to my dad. When I was growing up my dad had a lot of stories (as I’m sure most dads do). You know the stories…awake at 3am to work, and then off to school, only to go back to work after school…the torturous stories you’ve heard so many times you could say them right along with him (though you didn’t dare). In all of his stories (there actually weren’t many, but a few that kept getting recycled) there was always a recurring theme of hard work, diligence and a work ethic that taught you to be the best in anything you do. He would say “I don’t care if you’re a ditch-digger. You be the best damn ditch-digger they’ve ever seen!” That one thought has stayed with me through the years and has been a cornerstone of my personal and my professional life. Applying that concept to any and every endeavor has made life pretty easy. Of course life has its’ share of difficulties to throw at you, but remember the old adage “life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you handle it”. There will always be another challenge right around the corner, so prepare the way with excellence. Handle every situation with excellence. Run your business or work your job with excellence. Teach your kids excellence. Strive for excellence in ALL that you do and you will be amazed at the results.