Strive For Excellence pt. 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- INTRODUCTION
- DEFINITIONS
- KEYS FOR STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE
- Define Your vision
- Kill Your Excuses
- Pay Attention To Details
- Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone
- Set Standards For Yourself
- Join A Community Of Excellence Minded People
- Partner With God
It is no longer news that most of us were born into environments and cultures that have no value for excellence. By default we were programmed to fail or to be mediocres in life due to certain negative influences that surrounded us from childhood.
We all had no control over this factors because we were not given the choice of what environmental and cultural factors that surrounded us from birth.
However, in the arena of destiny excuses are inconsequential. We are all responsible for the outcomes of our lives.
DEFINITIONS
STRIVE: To make strenuous effort; to try earnestly and persistently.
EXCELLENCE: The quality of being outstanding or extremely good. Surpassing standards and limits.
SEVEN KEYS FOR STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE
1. Define Your Vision: A lot of people allow their circumstances to define their vision. Some allow their past, their culture, or their nationality to define their vision.
I believe that the foundation of every authentic vision is the word of God and His plan for your life. Nothing else and no one else qualifies to dictate your vision to you.
Your vision is your compass, it is the picture of a compelling future that motivates you. You cannot go further than the pictures in your mind.
If you want to strive for an excellent life then you must redefine the pictures that you consistently entertain in your mind about who you are and what you can do.
The transformation of the mind is the entry point to redefining your vision. I wrote briefly on The Power Of a Transformed Mind in a different post.
The process of redefining your vision will require you to think differently and capture a new picture of who you are and what is possible for you.
Our environments shape our minds and dictates our possibilities, trying to define your vision using that faulty lens is an effort in futility.
You will have to renew your mind so that you can see the future clearly and chart a new course for your destiny.
2. Kill Your Excuses: There is no one on earth who doesn't have excuses.
There is no successful person who didn't have an excuse to fail. There is no great person who didn't have an excuse to be a mediocre. There is no wealthy person who didn't have an excuse to remain poor. There is no disciplined person who didn't have an excuse to live an undisciplined life.
Excuses are the tales of someone that has settled for a mediocre life.
There is no end and no limit to the excuses that someone that has decided to fail in life can give.
3. Pay Attention To Details: People that are known all over the world for excellence understand that excellence is in the details.
People who linger in mediocrity find it difficult and even boring to focus on the details.
Truth me told, only few people were born with the uncanny ability to pay attention to details, others had to learn it.
This will require some level of internationality and focus. People who attempt too many things at the same time will find it difficult to see the details.
Many brilliant students fail their examinations because they won't pay attention to details. They were in a hurry to leave the examination hall.
Many marriages have been destroyed because the husband was too busy to pay attention to the details that meant all the world to his wife. Things such as their anniversary, taking note of her new hairdo or her outfit.
These things seem little but they mean a lot to most people.
Start today to pay attention to the little things that makes all the difference around you. Start by dressing your bed when you wake up in the morning, sweep your room, iron your clothes and remove multiple traveler's crease from your trouser. These little things done consistently will sharpen your mind to see other areas of your life that needs attention and order.
4. Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone: It has been said that nothing powerful or meaningful happens in the comfort zone.
You don't know how powerful you are until you leave your comfort zone.
To live an excellent life you must explore your potentials from boarder to boarder and that cannot happen until you leave your comfort zone.
The word "strive" already suggests that there is a struggle required to break out of mediocrity and live an excellent life.
You dont live an excellent life by wishing for it. You don't just cross your legs, fold your arms and expect to live an excellent life. You must strive for it and striving will require you to leave your comfort zone.
You cant expect to continue doing the same unprofitable things that you did in the previous year and expect to live an excellent life.
5. Set Standards For Yourself: Setting a standard for yourself is defining the values that you want to live by and be known for.
A man without values is like a house without walls or like a a football pitch without posts and lines
Without values it will be impossible to know what you represent and what you stand for. And to stand for nothing is to fall for everything.
Your values define you. They define what to expect when people come in contact with you.
To set a standard is to determine what is acceptable and what is not acceptable in your life and in your space.
To live in free mode where everything goes, where your standards are determined by any environment or circumstance that you find yourself will only lead to mediocrity.
You must exercise the power of choice even if you have to appear controversial to some people.
6. Join A Community Of Excellence Minded People: Mediocrity is contagious so is excellence. It has been said repeatedly that birds of the same feather flock together.
Keeping company with people that have no regard nor desire to live an excellent life will make you feel guilty about your decision to strive for excellence.
On the other hand, attempting to strive for excellence in isolation is an uphill task.
You cannot strive for excellence in isolation or in the company of people who have no value for excellence.
A wise man that is consistently found in the company of fools will soon lose his wisdom and with that will come regret and deep sorrow.
A community of excellent and quality people will strengthen your resolve to live an excellent life.
7. Partner With God: The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of excellence. No one partners with Him and lives in mediocrity perpetually.
The first and most important company to keep as you strive for excellence is to keep company with God; the very source and fountaim of an excellent life.
A. Acknowledge Him in all things and at all times.
See things from His perspective, never think of yourself as a separate entity from God. Keep God in view. Keep Him before your face. Consult with Him before you consult with your friends. And even as you define your vision define a vision that is big enough for God to fit into it.
B. Get The Mind Of Christ
The human mind is limited. To strive for excellence you must sebscribe to a superior thinking pattern.
A mindset that is committed to pleasing God and fulfilling His purposes on earth. A mindset that evaluates all things with eternity in view.
The mind of Christ is concerned about seeking God and His Kingdom over the desire to fulfill the lusts of the flesh and live for temporal human rewards.
C. Pray: Prayer is the easiest way to partner with God in your quest to strive for excellence.
Without prayer you will come across numerous challenges that will overwhelm you and cause you to give up on your journey towards excellence.
There are factors in life that only prayer can fix.
CONCLUSION: It doesn't matter where you come from an excellent life is possible and these are the points that guarantee an excellent life. Keep them before you, engage them intentionally and in no distant future every trace of mediocrity will no longer be found in and around you.
Our goal is not to waste your time but to inspire you to fulfil your life's purpose.
Until we meet again.
Stay inspired...
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