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Would you like to join the top 5% of the _______?

Fill in the blank in the above statement.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” --Aristotle

When I was a kid, my sister made a habit of calling me stupid. And since we are what we repeatedly do—or hear—I made a habit of believing I was stupid. After all, I had no reason to dispute her affectionate nickname for me. She was two years older than me; made straight A’s in school and planned to be a teacher. I made mediocre grades at best because of my belief and so decided to focus on music, not academics.

My average grades and expertise in music managed to get me into the same college as my sister. One day, she challenged me to an IQ test being sponsored by the Mensa Club. I’m not sure why I agreed to a test which would measure my brain power against hers, but I did. The results shocked us both.

My score was 23 points higher than my sister’s. Immediately I felt intelligent and began to apply myself in a different way than ever before. Not only did I surpass my sister’s scores in her toughest subjects, I learned to achieve perfect and higher than perfect scores and amazed my teachers in the process. I dropped out of music and took up philosophy and psychology and eventually business.

I felt as though I had been freed from prison. But why? I was the same person with the same mind the day after the test as I was the day before the test. I looked the same. I acted the same. I hung out with the same people. Only my grades were drastically improved. I would strive for 100, then do the bonus questions. My grades shot up to 106 and 112 averages. It became fun, and my peers dubbed me a geek. That title made me proud.

For the first time in my life, I was the teacher’s favorite and maintained a 100+ average. Not in just one or two subjects, but in everything I took: math, accounting, computers, philosophy, psychology, history and economics. How could that be? I was supposed to be a poorly paid starving artist, not a geek like my sister. Then I started asking myself a different question. I started asking myself how I could apply this quest for excellence to every aspect of my life, including music.

The first thing I realized is that excellence requires commitment. It is this commitment which separates successful people from average people. Average people may want and expect excellence, but they don’t understand it enough to become committed to achieving it.

We all understand commitment in terms of loyalty to friendships, marriage and work. Commitment, however, is really the state of being bound emotionally or intellectually to someone, some thing or some ideal (i.e. Person, Passion or Purpose). It is the principle and ideal of excellence that we have to be emotionally and intellectually bound to. In essence, it is the act of creating a contract or a binding obligation with “excellence.” Mark McCormack, founder and CEO of International Management Group (IMG), the sports management conglomerate that represents Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, Arnold Palmer and Andre Agassi, once said, "Commit yourself to excellence from day one ... it's better to do nothing at all than to do something badly." The keyword here is commitment.

After I understood the commitment required, I sought an understanding of the subject. Excellence is brilliance. Excellence is distinction. Excellence is superiority. Excellence is perfection. Excellence is greatness. Excellence goes beyond the status quo and against the norm. Warren G. Bennis once said, “Excellence is a better teacher than mediocrity. The lessons of the ordinary are everywhere. Truly profound and original insights are to be found only in studying the exemplary.”

As it relates to business, the company’s level of excellence determines sales. In order to achieve legendary status, businesses have to be superb at what they do. People don’t say, “Hey, let’s go get an okay steak,” or “Let’s go to a second-rate party.” You do not and will not hear such things because people expect excellence from the businesses they buy from.

Excellence is also ongoing. It is not a position, place or achievement. No one arrives at excellence for excellence is not a destination. Tom Peters, a renowned business philosopher, said, “Excellent firms don't believe in excellence -- only in constant improvement and constant change.” He also went on to say, “If it isn’t broke, you just haven't looked hard enough. Fix it anyway.” Excellence, therefore, is a state of mind. To be excellent, you have to be willing and determined to raise your standards and be better today than you were yesterday.

So how do you accomplish excellence? Simple. Change your thought process.

From a very young age, we are conditioned by our parents, siblings, teachers, peers and media to accept mediocrity. It starts with our grading system, a system which promotes average work. I lived shackled in that system for years, a C student who believed he had no potential, no hope, no chance for success. I was average, and I thought that’s who I always had to be. Until I saw those test scores. Something inside me clicked at that moment, and I recognized I could be excellent.

My recognition of the fact that I could be excellent is what changed my life. I recognized it because my eyes and ears were WIDE open, and I caught what it meant to achieve excellence. The same holds true for you. Excellence can only be achieved when you are present and focused. When I say present, I mean being actively engaged in the moment. Have you ever played a sport, won, but were not sure why? What about winning and knowing it was in the bag? What was the difference? Your eyes were “WIDE” open. You were confident because you were focused and present. You knew winning was a certainty and were relentless in its pursuit.

Even while you are reading this chapter, your mind is processing a million things. You are thinking about that meeting you have this morning, that place you are going for lunch, that phone call you need to make, that bill you have to pay. Am I right? Admit it. How many of you have thought about these things and more while reading this chapter?

Most workers are only 20% productive throughout the entire day. This is true because we are continually distracted by our environment, our beliefs, our passions, our desires, our pains, etc. Yoga and other forms of martial arts were formed to capture present focus and to free the mind of distraction. When the mind is free from distraction, excellence becomes possible.

Pain is also used sometimes to pull the mind back to the present. For instance, NLP (Neuro-Linguistic-Programing), if implemented in the correct way, is used to gain present focus. For instance, a popular NLP technique to use after an incorrect behavior pattern is observed is to snap a rubber band on the wrist to get the mind back to the present in order to be corrected. This is a method of training your mind to get rid of unwanted habits. As it pertains to Yoga, certain poses were created to generate pain or to position your body off center to keep the mind focused on the present. This is called heightened awareness or body-form meditation. The pain method works. Try it. The next time you start to fall asleep but want to stay awake, slap yourself in the face or pinch your arm. You will be sure to regain your focus instantly.

Thomas J. Watson said, “If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work.” It is that simple. It is almost like believing in something that you can’t see, touch or feel. It is not that you have to see it to believe it. You have to believe in order to make it happen. You have to be targeted and focused.

What is the difference maker for you? Has it clicked for you yet? Do you know that excellence is in you by design? You already have it. Just like me. Remember, I wasn’t biologically different before and after the IQ test, but knowing who I was opened the lock to unlimited potential. The real kicker is that it didn’t matter what the IQ test said anyway. If you score low, I would challenge that the actual test results could be a part of your programming and subconscious belief system. For some reason that day I was open to the possibility. Remember, you have that same potential because you are human and excellence is in your DNA. Buckminster Fuller, Einstein’s apprentice once said “I am convinced all of humanity is born with more gifts than we know. Most are born geniuses and just get de-geniused rapidly.

I believe that everyone is capable of 110% on every subject. Sure, some things are easier than others, but the difference maker is your ability to be present and focused with your “eyes wide open.” In order to be present, your attitude has to change. You have to want it and believe it. That is why attitude determines altitude and ultimately determines excellence.

What is your attitude towards excellence? Are you the best in your current capacity? If not, you could be. It is all about a commitment, an understanding and a belief. Excellence is with you now. You have it. You were born with it. It is not something you learn, although you see it and experience it everyday. It is so innate you recognize it when you see it. You also expect it from others. So just do it and you will never be the same. Insist on excellence with all of your suppliers, vendors, managers, employees, etc. It is inherently in each and every one of them. It is limiting beliefs that are keeping it from them and from you.

What do you believe about yourself? Are you capable of being the best in your field? Don’t settle for average in yourself. Analyze and examine all of your limiting beliefs, because they are holding you back from acquiring excellence. Once you break down these barriers, exemplify excellence and practice it daily through concentrated effort. This truly will set you apart and elevate you to the top 1% of your peers.

Excellence is a habit. And you can learn how to acquire this habit. So will you? Will you commit to a habit of excellence today and join the top?

Email joey @ higherhill.com  or call 678-448-4058 for speaking engagements, corporate retreats, strategic consulting, article requests or collaboration. For more information, go to http://www.joey-smith.com

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