Make Excellence a Habit

Dear loving people,

Join me this morning as I adapt this write-up from Jef Poskanzer

A habit is a routine behavior done on a regular basis. It is a recurrent and often unconscious pattern of behavior and is acquired through frequent repetition. Most of it is unconscious as you don’t even realize you are doing them. Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines habits as “an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary”

This definition ties exactly with Aristotle’s words “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

This practically means that you should give your 100% into EVERYTHING you do if you want to make it big. This is what the ancient Yogis believed was the key to success. If you want to be good at football then you should not only apply yourself to your football training but also to ordinary day-to-day activities. By doing so you cultivate the habit of excellence.

The media has made it easy for people especially in some third world countries like Cameroon to have an idea of how life these days in the western world can be really easy for a lot of people. While people there complain about the weather, traffic etc. but compared to many people in the third world, those in the west seem to have it easy. They don’t have to work hard in fact, there are those who have never had to worry about starving to death, some have never been in a war or some of the calamities we witness every day.

The truth is that you can get by in life these days without putting 100% into it. You can probably cruise through at around 80% and be fine. But the quality of your life will reflect what you put into it. You put in less, you get less back. I personally can’t sail along with the 80% majority and so I strive to give in my 100%.

Popular culture in the world today does not encourage us to strive for excellence. In fact it probably encourages the opposite. When I was in school the kids who worked hard at their homework got teased, and sometimes this attitude still prevails in the adult world. Think about your work colleagues, your friends and family: how many of them are putting 100% into everything they do? Sadly excellence is not a common thing. If you are someone who strives for excellence in all things then you are a rare breed.

Be the exception. Wash the dishes to the very best of your ability, clean the toilet to the very best of your ability. It might not seem like much but by doing this you begin to establish the habit of excellence in everything that you do. As it becomes more entrenched, this habit will spill over into your relationships, work, finances, health…

It’s rather like physical fitness. It takes effort, but the more you do it the easier it becomes. At first you have to train yourself and push yourself towards excellence even when you don’t feel like it. But start with the little things and you’ll soon see it spread across all aspects of your life. If you practice this approach even for a week you’ll see what I’m getting at.

Changing your habits is generally easier said than done but not in this case. If you simply do the next task you do to the very best of your ability then you’re already on your way.