Excellence

Matthew 25:23,  His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.” 

My EagleLaunch Thought For The Week; “Excellence is a dynamic, ever-evolving state created by those willing to continuously redefine and stretch their potential,” came to me as I was reading the October edition of “Success Magazine.”  The publisher of “Success,” Darren Hardy in his monthly Publisher’s Letter wrote that he believes the goal and purpose of life is living your potential.

I believe this is a great goal and purpose but something I would like to add is potential is not a static state; it continues to evolve as we continue to evolve as human beings. 

Many years ago a speaker at a basketball camp I was attending shared a quote with the group that has stuck with me throughout my entire life.  He said “good, better, best, never let it rest until your good is better and your better is your best.” 

Whenever I speak with students I always share this quote as it has had and still is having a huge impact on my life.  I first practiced “good, better, best” when I was in the 7th grade as I had a desire to become the best free throw shooter I could be as I worked on my dream of becoming a great basketball player.  I decided I would shoot at least 100 free throws every day, (rain, snow, clouds, sunshine or friends), all the way through high school.  Believe it or not, I followed through on this goal and the results taught me a huge lesson for life.

As I began my quest to perfect my free throw shooting at the age of 13 my “best” was making 75 out of 100 free throws attempted, my better was 70 and my good was 65.  As I practiced I soon reached a point where my good was 70 (my former better) my better was 75 (my former best) and my best was 80.  By the end of my high school career, this daily practice took me to a place where my good was 90, my better was 95 and my best was 100 made free throws out of 100 shots taken.  While in college it was nothing for me to hit 120-140 free throws in a row while practicing.

The key to my success as a free throw shooter….I NEVER stopped practicing because I was never satisfied with my “best” and in turn I never put a limit on my potential.

Ever since I got my life back on the right track several years ago, I’ve tried to practice good, better, best in all of my roles and responsibilities as a way of repaying God for saving my life (not a requirement for living a Godly life–as we can never outgive God–but a great thing to do).  What is so amazing when I look back, is what I once thought was excellent is not even close to being good today.  A commitment to always improving is a commitment to always redefining and stretching your potential and subsequent level of excellence.   

What is so crazy is it is your choice on how “excellent” you want to be.  For my obsessive compulsive friends…I am not talking about perfection where “what drives us will drive us insane.”  I am simply talking about striving to become the best you can be at everything you do.

Three keys to making your potential and level of excellence ever-evolving and dynamic is to first seek God’s help in this new way of living (he wants us to succeed and will help stretch our potential as Jesus states in Matthew 25:23 above), secondly-make a decision to no longer let the nightmares of the past cloud your possibilities to the future, and thirdly-surround yourself with people, books and magazines (that is why I read Success magazine) that preach, teach and live excellence.

Why settle for good or better when you can continue to redefine your best (i.e. excellence)?  Getting on the road to excellence only takes 2 steps…start and continue.

P.E.A.C.E.  (If you want to know what P.E.A.C.E. stands for go to the homepage and click “About Eaglelaunch”)

jay@eaglelaunch.com

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