Expect Excellence. Expect Commitment.

Photo credit to John Mcsporran

There is a school of thought that suggests that we are in an age in which we are losing the mentality of “Excellence”. An age where people are just phoning it in because they have either been beaten down by cynicism caused by their betrayal by ‘The Establishment’, or they are in a particular demographic/psychographic that values lifestyle over work. The death of commitment. The death of excellence.

Of course, as a generalization, this isn’t true at all. These decisions are individual. They’re personal.

It’s only true for you……if you’ve decided to let it be true.

And if you’ve decided to pursue excellence, you’ve decided to commit. Because excellence and commitment go hand in hand. You can’t deliver excellence without complete commitment.

And that entails both physical and mental commitment. Sorry, but you can’t deliver that from 9 to 5. Weekends cannot be sacrosanct. Ideas and inspiration don’t have time constraints. Nor do they politely observe personal schedules.

Sure, you can deliver good. But you’re not going to deliver great.

Name your favorite product, company, app, artist, etc., and I assure you that their output, their art, didn’t happen without the kind of commitment I’m talking about. It didn’t happen because they had to leave work at 5 to hang out with their friends or catch the latest reality show on TV every night.

It happened because they had a goal, they came together to achieve that goal, and they did what it took to make it happen. That’s not neat and tidy – it’s messy, disorganized, chaotic, absorbing, all encompassing. But it’s also exhilarating, inspiring, breathtaking.

Isn’t that what we live for? Isn’t that what we are really looking for? A cause. A focus. A dream. I just don’t understand why someone would want to go through life not aspiring to that.

To something.

Commit. Excel. To something.

So, what’s your decision?