Tag Archives: hard work

Demanding excellence

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The world’s greatest projects did not end with someone saying “good enough”. In fact, “good enough” rarely produces anything of value. Yet many people are still drawn to this concept of doing just the minimum to get by, and we all pay a price for it.

There is far too much mediocrity in the world, and we’ve all witnessed it. I’m not talking about mistakes, either. We all make mistakes. I’m talking about the people who just don’t care enough to actually want to excel, to be the best, to help others, to go above and beyond, to break boundaries, to be of great value to society, to push themselves, and to grow.

I know that many people don’t want those things. They just want to get their paycheck, or go to class, or go home, and not be bothered. I can respect that, but only, and this is a big only, if they are not hypocrites about it. Why? Because, in my opinion, too many people are quick to expect a lot from others before they give a lot from themselves. I think that before we even think about demanding excellence from others, we need to be demanding it from ourselves. If we’re not, we have no right to complain, grumble, or correct others.

For example, if we slack off at work, show up late, and don’t do our job, when our plumber messes up, we shouldn’t chastise him. When the mechanic can’t fix our car, we shouldn’t fret. When the teacher shows up late, we shouldn’t panic. After all, if we were in his/her position, we would do a poor job, too, if not demanding excellence from ourselves.

Mediocrity is even common in college. Nearly every single class has someone on Facebook, twitter, texting, playing games, or sleeping. Many students spend more time watching Jersey Shore, partying, sleeping, and wasting time than they do studying, reading, learning, or working toward a goal. Some students even get upset at those who ask questions in class. Once again, I don’t agree with it, but they can do whatever they want. But what aggravates me more than nails on a chalkboard is that these same people complain and whine when they do poorly on tests, don’t get jobs, or fail to meet deadlines. Really? Listen, you get out what you put in. Do not be surprised that poor work ethic and mediocrity leads to minimal or no success. Of course it does! If success could be achieved by mediocrity then we’d all have it! We must do more than the average person if we want more than the average person. Frankly, some people don’t get this because they are too busy complaining.

Here is the biggest problem, the reason why many people don’t consistently manifest excellence: they trick themselves into believing that excellence is only needed on certain occasions. For example, some athletes completely blow off school and say “Hey, I try really hard when I play basketball, I don’t have to try hard for anything else.” False, and here is why: basketball, or any other individual pursuit, is just one thing that we do. Our habits shape us. So if we do fifty things (school, homework, exercise, jobs, projects, service, favors, etc.) and only try to excel at one of them (basketball), that means only 2% of the time we’re doing our best. In other words, 98% of our activities get done half-heartedly. No matter how hard we work during that 2%, it can never overshadow the 98%. Accordingly, we must strive to do our best in every single thing that we do. “Doing our best” ought to be a habit and and way of life. In the words of Aristotle, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

Our best should be expected, not just a “once in a while” thing. Even if the task is small, it doesn’t matter. If we’re raking leaves, let’s rake them like a boss. After all, every act of ours should represent the best of what we can offer.

I’ve been made fun of and even hated at times for working hard on school projects. I’ve been known to go “all-out”, even if it’s just worth five points. People constantly ask me why I bother to do so, and I just simply tell them, “I want every single thing I do to be amazing”. With that expectation, I’m seldom disappointed in the result. If you want to be great at what you do, you must demand excellence from yourself.

The effects of mediocrity and excellence reach everyone. Sometimes we have to deal with the problems others create, but sometimes we get to piggyback on their progress. It works both ways, but I like progress a lot more than problems. I like achievement more than failure and I like being happy over being uneasy. However, unless we raise the bar, for ourselves as individuals and as a society, we will continue to have more of what we don’t want. We will continue to have unnecessary problems, failures, and uneasiness. The best way to improve the future is to decide now that we will aim higher, work harder, and demand more from ourselves than we are currently doing. If we all did that, or even if just some of us did that, imagine how much positive change we could see in the world.

Going forth, let excellence be the standard in your life. Always try your hardest, no matter the task, and keep this in mind: if it’s not worth your best effort, it’s not worth your effort at all.

“Excellence can be obtained if you:
care more than others think is wise,
risk more than others think is safe,
dream more than others think is practical,
and expect more than others think is possible.”
~Unknown

Photo by kikashi

“Overachiever”

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To overachieve means “to perform better or achieve more success than expected.” Better performance and breaking through expectations sounds exciting, but there is certainly a dark cloud that follows overachievement as well.

At its worst, it can become a compulsion, an unhealthy way of life, and even drive people to unethical methods of getting ahead. At its best, however, it can make dreams come true. Which is it then, good or bad?

I’ve been mulling over this question for days and have finally arrived at some coherent thoughts (and mental peace). I believe that overachievement is a good thing as long as it meets two criteria. First, it must be genuine and earnest. Second, life balance cannot be compromised. However, one extremely important distinction needs to be made: hard work alone is not overachieving! For example, I’ve heard people in college use the word “overachiever” to describe someone who studies more than one night in advance for a test. Really? Come on, that’s what should be done. Furthermore, many (lazy) people use the word “overachiever” to describe anyone who does more work than them, in order to make themselves feel better and justify their inactivity. “Who cares if I watch six hours of TV every day and sleep twelve hours, you guys are just overachievers.” False, my friend. They are just hard workers, doing what hard workers do.

Back to the criteria:
1) Genuine and earnest efforts: If people believe in their cause, if they have a purpose, a dream, a desire, or just a giant ambition, I support them working hard for it. Overachieving is sometimes what it takes to make a dream come true. Without a doubt, the top people in their fields have pulled all-nighters, skipped meals, and worked late. If, however, their only motivation to do so was to beat others, I defer to Proverbs 10:2, which states, “Ill-gotten treasures are of no value.”
2) Maintain balance: If someone is losing sleep, working to exhaustion, and setting ridiculously high goals, I would assume they have some grand motivation. They have something that is compelling them to do what they do. But there are ways to be successful while maintaining balance in other aspects of life (health, nutrition, familial, social, spiritual, etc.). I agree that focus is pivotal to success, but neglecting important aspects of life is detrimental to success, and can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle.

To recap, I believe that overachieving is a good thing, as long as it is done earnestly and without jeopardizing life balance. Plus, who wouldn’t want “to perform better or achieve more success than expected”? Therefore, if someone calls you an “overachiever”, take it as a compliment! If nothing else, it’s much better than being the opposite!

Photo by Search Engine People Blog

Motivation mindset

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“Being motivated” isn’t very different from being happy or being sad – it’s just a state. Like all states, we can induce them as we wish. But some people will say, “I can’t make myself happy or sad, all I could do is fake it…and that wouldn’t help.” This is a strong argument for people who believe it is true. But what if somebody offered you one million dollars in cash to be genuinely happy for two minutes? Could you do it? Of course! What if the same million dollars were offered if you could be genuinely sad for two minutes, could you do that? Of course! How would you do it? Well, you might think sad thoughts, perhaps about injustice in the world, or maybe recall sad memories as vividly as you can. But you would find a way. I’m confident this would work with any emotion so long as the million dollar reward was offered. The point is, you could do it if you really wanted to. Therefore, if you want to be motivated, craft your thoughts in a manner that elicits this sensation. How? Here are some tips:

1: Motivations are reasons. If you don’t have a reason for doing something, you will undoubtedly lack energy and enthusiasm. Accordingly, find your reasons! If you are studying for finals, here are some reasons to do well: better grades, approval of parents, higher GPA, confidence, self-satisfaction, mastery of subject, less stress, guilt-free holiday vacation, resume boost, potential jobs down the road, grad school preparation, transcript helper, favor with professors, and so on. Which ones apply to you? Find them and mediate on them.

2: Replenish your motivation! “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” ~Zig Ziglar. I love this analogy and here are some more to consider: After we eat food, no matter how full we are, we still have to eat again later. We aren’t full forever! The same thing applies for thirst and drinking water. The same thing applies for sleep. When we are tired – we sleep. When we are tired again, we sleep again! Make sure that when your motivation dwindles you replenish! How? First, think of all the reasons you came up with in step one. Next, find sources of inspiration/motivation you can look to (quotes, videos on YouTube, pictures, and so on). You could also think of your past successes. Either way, have go-to sources of motivation ready and at your disposal.

3: Baby steps! A common reason for procrastination is intimidation by the task at hand. Nobody wants to study for three hours…that would be torture! But what about three separate one hour sessions with a ten minute Facebook break in-between? If not Facebook, fill your breaks with something you love to do! This leads to the final tip…

4: Reward yourself! To get work done efficiently, work on a task without interruption until it is complete. This can be extremely dull sometimes but it works! However, it is ten times harder if there isn’t a prize waiting at the end. Sometimes I will vow to read 50 pages before I get up from my seat or do anything else. I find that it goes much quicker if I know that when I’m done I’ll get to eat ice cream, watch football, take a nap, etc. The point is, have rewards waiting for you on all your breaks and feel free to vary them. This will provide a constant incentive to work efficiently and get things done.

I hope these tips will be useful as you seek motivation. The last thing I’d like to offer is one of my favorite “go-to” videos…it always motivates me :) Enjoy!