Choose to Pursue Excellence

One of the biggest obstacles to success online is that instead of the pursuit of excellence people make the mistake of pursuing perfection. Have you ever been guilty of this? I certainly have.

The problem is perfection can not be obtained and if that becomes your goal you will find yourself frustrated and procrastinating on getting things done and let your fear of not “being good enough” hold you back and interfere with your productivity. You will continually fall short in your eyes and that will lead to even more procrastination. It becomes a vicious cycle.

When you choose to pursue excellence you put forth your best efforts understanding that you can always go back and tweak a project, a post, a book or an email series and improve on it to provide even more value. In the meantime you need to get your best work “today” out into the world to benefit others.

Avoid Mediocrity

By giving up the pursuit of perfection this does not mean settling for mediocrity. You know the expression “Good help is hard to find”. This comes from people not willing to give their best and performing a mediocre job and hoping you won’t notice. Whether it is a report prepared for you with multiple mistakes or a housekeeper who dusts around the objects on your desk and tables instead of taking the time to lift the objects and do a thorough dusting, it is frustrating when others don’t pursue excellence in their work and it affects you.

It’s easy to look at others and see where they are failing to give their best. How about you? Can you hold up the mirror to your own actions and find areas where you have had a mediocre mindset verses one of excellence?

Looking in my own mirror it was easy, if uncomfortable, to find areas where I have not been a model of excellence. Procrastinating on my blog, not blocking out specific time to learn new skills, delaying taking action on certain projects and being inconsistent with my diet and health plan are some of mine.

What are your areas that you need to choose to pursue excellence? Have you avoided finishing a book or project, delayed taking control of your health, neglected to deal with stressful clients that no longer are the right fit for your business? Take a close look so you can course correct and get back on the path of excellence. Trying to achieve perfection or falling into mediocrity just slows us down and can derail us.

How to Choose Excellence

Here are a few tips to help you choose excellence and avoid the trap of perfection or falling into mediocrity:

• Find people you admire and mentors whose lives demonstrate excellence and model their habits. Are they great at staying focused and overcoming obstacles?  Be willing to listen, learn, ask for help and take decisive action.
• Set high standards for yourself and live with authenticity and integrity. You aren’t striving for perfection. You are just giving your best on a daily basis.
• Refuse to tolerate mediocrity from yourself, others who work for you and those you coach. Encourage and inspire others to be their best and this will in turn inspire you. It’s reciprocal.
• Cultivate the habit of choosing excellence verses perfection. When you feel your fear of “not being good enough” tempting you to hold back just go for it and release your work. Pursuing perfection steals your contribution to the world and keeps you trapped.
• Finally, don’t beat yourself up when unavoidable delays appear. Accept that as just life- which is always changing-and keep pressing forward. My husband’s recent health crisis created delays for a few weeks but hasn’t derailed me from my goals.

Every day is a new day so evaluate the areas of your life where you aren’t giving your best and decide to choose to pursue excellence. You will be happy you did.