You Can Foster Excellence in Yourself

Each human is capable of fostering excellence. The problem is that many feel ill prepared because they have never experienced excellence or they have an erroneous idea of what constitutes excellence.

So what is excellence? Excellence is individual. You must define that for yourself, but essentially there are two components to help define that: action and alignment. Action consists of doing everything that you do, in the best, most excellent manner. Alignment conce
s your core values. It is difficult to achieve excellence in any endeavor when it is something out of alignment with your core values and inner desires.

The first ingredient you need to foster excellence is the desire to be excellent. With no desire, you're not going to put the effort forth that excellence requires. Make no mistake, excellence requires work. Being excellent does not require judgment or blame, rather taking steps toward fulfilling the desires you have in life.

When you get bored with an activity that you used to love doing, consider whether you have become complacent. Is it time to move to the next level? For instance, if you normally ride your exercise bike for 30 minutes per day, and now cycling for 30 minutes is not challenging, difficult, or is boring you, why not kick it up a bit? Try doubling your time, or heck, try a spin class. Maybe you need to do something completely different, like entering a cross country marathon.

Challenging yourself to reach new heights is what fosters excellence. So what impedes the process? It may be blaming yourself for not doing it sooner, or being judgmental of yourself for not pushing farther, or comparing yourself with others, instead of recognizing when a new challenge is needed to spark your desire for excellence. When what you are doing excites, motivates, and aligns with your core values, you will feel excellent. Indeed, you will be excellent!

Achieving excellence is about allowing you the freedom to take new risks, start new habits, and do things in a new way from within. It is also about stretching beyond what you thought you could do, not settling for less, but at the same time not being harsh with yourself if you fall short. Remember, effort is part of achieving excellence and people who attempt nothing will achieve nothing.

Praise yourself for accomplishments made, even incremental ones, and do not blame others for failure. Failure is simply another opportunity to grow and succeed. In fact, when you see failure as an opportunity improve and challenge yourself more, you are practicing excellence. Once you grasp this concept you can take hold of every day with the knowledge that each day you're being your best, most excellent self.