My dad was my first coach and he taught me how to compete. He taught me how to push myself to my maximum limit. He would say, “Push yourself to your limit and then push some more.” I didn’t understand until I was older that he was teaching me the concept and characteristics of excellence. The Raiders’ owner Al Davis coined the slogan, ‘commitment to excellence.’ This is what my dad was trying to get from me. He was trying to get me to commit to the idea of being excellent, today’s Ultimate Transformation Moment. Let’s all commit to the concept of excellence.
Excellence can sometimes feel like an out of reach concept, somewhat unattainable. It is just the opposite. It is a behavioral characteristic that when used in our day-to-day lives, we find that we reap the benefit of great achievement.
Today, I define excellence with the three little words that my dad would say to me: “Push some more.” In general, everyone has a basic idea of what we should do each day to meet our minimal requirements. However, just meeting a minimum requirement is not enough; we should do this and then “Push some more.” These three words represent the most important characteristic of excellence and that is maximum effort! Maximum effort should be demonstrated not only in areas that we are comfortable, or happy with, but in all areas of life.
The main characteristic of excellence, is never settling for less than our best effort. If we accept anything less than our best effort, we are settling for mediocrity. Mediocrity does not produce greatness. Maximum effort, going above and beyond produces greatness and Excellence. Take advantage of every opportunity that is offered, and this is done by giving maximum effort and going beyond the norm. We all have the potential for greatness. It is our choice to exert the effort to be great.
The best way to evaluate ourselves and know we are demonstrating excellence is through personal assessment. Take an honest look at your actions each day and build a standard. Once you have identified the standard, or the basic effort you give each day, try to outperform yourself(give maximum effort) the next day. Then, continue this practice each day thereafter.
If you’re going to set out and make the idea of yourself this week to be a better husband, do what you’ve done before and then do some more. Our commitment to excellence will lead us to a definite better place and if we consistently do it, we become better, our families become better, our communities become better, and eventually the world.
Peace and Be More!