What does 'excellence' mean to you,
personally?
If you were to ask 100 people this question, how many
different answers do you think you would likely get? I'm
willing to bet that you would get close to 100 different answers. Each of
us has our own definition of excellence, or we have different
things to which we would apply it and different ways in which we
would apply it.
I don't claim to have the absolute end-all,
be-all definition. In general terms, however, I would submit
that excellence is something that you realize and experience when
you surpass mere adequacy, and you press beyond mediocrity.
The following definition comes from a quotation attributed to Aristotle,
which deserves
some consideration on this topic:
"Excellence
is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly
because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those
because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit."
If you want to take the level of your achievement to a level of
excellence that you haven't yet achieved, it might be worthwhile
to examine your habits, everything from your preparation to your
work ethic, and determine whether or not they could reasonably be
expected to yield excellence. Compare them to the habits of
those who have achieved excellence, and see how they stack up.
Most importantly...if you find any of your habits lacking, you
must have
the honesty to admit it, and the determination and fortitude to
change them if achieving excellence is your goal.
Got a question on excellence you'd like to
see discussed?
If there is a particular aspect about or
subtopic of excellence that you've been
wondering about, you can submit it for
discussion. The process for doing this is quite
simple. Simply click on the link below to submit
your question/sub-topic for discussion.
Submit a question for the Pure Excellence
Initiative
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February 2007
Jim Key
Founder & Director,
Pure Excellence Initiative
Recommended Reading:
Driven From Within
by Michael Jordan
Do you know someone who is interested in
pursuing personal excellence? Sharing the
Pure Excellence Initiative is as easy as
forwarding this email to them.
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