In Pursuit of Excellence

It is very easy in today's 'quick fix' society to sacrifice quality and give in to mediocrity.

There are too many products in the marketplace that are nothing more than crap with a pretty package, (sometimes even the packaging is garbage) put out by individuals with false hopes of making a fast buck at the customer's expense. Unfortunately, everyone ends up losing in this scenario: the customer ends up with a bad experience and they tell all their friends, the product ends up being returned or in the recycle bin, and usually the company in question eventually ends up bankrupt. Rest assured, people who push crap by putting lipstick on pigs will end up fried bacon.

Hero souls are rare individuals who are always striving for more, always striving to improve, always committed to doing better than their best. They are in pursuit of excellence 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To be your best, you have to be willing to do more, to strive a little more, to know a little more, to reach a little higher and go beyond yourself.

Whether you are a student, office worker, entrepreneur, or artist, I encourage you to make the extra effort in bettering yourself and your craft every day and commit to excellence. If you are a student, learn more than just the assigned topic; bring an extra dimension into your research by digging further and offering more than what is expected. If you are an entrepreneur, learn from other disciplines outside your expertise and research the competition to genuinely improve your product instead of just mouthing, "we're the best at what we do." If you're an artist, risk rejection by putting your soul on the line by grasping at truth beyond yourself, even if you can't quite fully understand and explain what lies beyond you.

I promise you that if you commit your life to excellence, now, today, you will separate yourself from the crowd and stand miles ahead. People will seek you out, and be willing to pay a premium for your service or product. Why am I willing to pay three or four times more for a Haagen-Dazs ice-cream or a Starbuck's coffee when I know others are selling for less? Because they genuinely have a quality product and don't have to b.s. me by saying 'they are the best.' Don't boast about how good you are, commit to excellence and let the facts speak for themselves.