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Excellence
Equals Success
It's not about the
competition. Or even about winning. It's about being the best you can
be.
By Jon Gordon
August, 2009
Success is often measured by comparison to others.
Excellence, on the other hand, is all about being the best we can be and
maximizing our gifts, talents and abilities to perform at our highest
potential.
We live in a world that loves to focus on success and loves to compare.
We are all guilty of doing this. However, I believe that to be our best
we must focus more on excellence and less on success. We must focus on
being the best we can be and realize that our greatest competition is
not someone else but ourselves.
For example, coaching legend John Wooden often wouldn’t tell his players
who they were playing each game. He felt that knowing the competition
was irrelevant. He believed that if his team played to the best of their
ability they would be happy with the outcome. In fact, John Wooden never
focused on winning. He had his team focus on teamwork, mastering the
fundamentals, daily improvement and the process that excellence
requires. As a result he and his teams won A LOT.
A focus on excellence was also the key for golfing legend Jack Nicklaus.
His secret was to play the course not the competition. He simply focused
on playing the best he could play against the course he was playing.
While others were competing against Jack, he was competing against the
course and himself.
The same can be said for Apple’s approach with the iPod and iPhone. When
they created these products they didn’t focus on the competition.
Instead they focused on creating the best product they could create. As
a result, rather than measuring themselves against others they have
become the measuring stick.
We have a choice as individuals, organizations and teams. We can focus
on success and spend our life looking around to see how our competition
is doing, or we can look straight ahead towards the vision of greatness
we have for ourselves and our teams. We can look at competition as the
standard or as an indicator of our progress towards our own standards.
We can chase success or we can embark on a quest for excellence and
focus 100% of our energy to become our best... and let success find us.
Ironically, when our goal is excellence the outcome and byproduct is
often success.
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ALWAYS AIM
HIGHER
Always aim higher than you
believe you can reach. So often, you'll discover that when your talents
are set free by your imagination, you can achieve any goal.
If people offer their help
or wisdom as you go through life, accept it gratefully. You can learn
much from those who have gone before you. But never be afraid or
hesitant to step off the accepted path and head off in your own
direction if your heart tells you that it's the right way for you.
Always believe that you
will ultimately succeed at whatever you do, and never forget the value
of persistence, discipline, and determination.
You are meant to be
whatever you dream of becoming.
--Rex Barker |
