Don’t Let Perfect Get in the Way of Progress

Don’t worry about being perfect today.  Instead, focus on being better than yesterday — strive to be your best, in terms of attitude and effort.

Don’t compare yourself with others, don’t aspire to be better than anyone else, and don’t stress over challenges, mistakes, and setbacks.

Learn from mistakes, be persistent, and simply do what you can do to make today better than yesterday.

While it’s admirable to aim for perfection, you’ve got to be realistic and reasonable.

As Vince Lombardi said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”

Strive for perfection, settle for excellence, and — above all — keep moving forward and getting better.

BE YOUR BEST

DO YOUR BEST

GIVE YOUR BEST

Your thoughts?

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Don’t Settle for Average

Average.  Mediocre.  Usual.  Middling.  Run-of-the-mill.  Ordinary.  Common.

No, thank you.

It’s easy to fall into the “path of least resistance” trap.  Sometimes, it seems like that’s what everyone around us does.  It may feel safer to fit in than to stand out.

When we don’t meet our own (or others’) expectations, we tend to try to justify the result to ourselves.  We settle.

Nobody’s perfect — at least not at everything they do, all the time.  Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we fall short… we fail.  But if you strive for perfection and fall short, you can still achieve excellence.  You can still be great.

The key lies in our mental approach and work ethic.  Our willingness to pursue greatness.

Work toward your personal best in your daily endeavors, whether that be as an athlete, student, employee, or otherwise.  Try to improve upon the things that are important to you, every day.  Keep your focus internal and don’t worry about competing with others.  Strive to be better today than you were yesterday, and the rest will eventually fall in place.

Believe in you.  You’re better than average.

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?

Strive for Perfection, Settle for Excellence

Hall of Fame NFL Coach (and Cleveland area native), Don Shula, is credited with the quote, “Strive for perfection, settle for excellence.”  Ironically, it was Shula’s 1972 Miami Dolphins that, to this day, lay claim to the NFL’s only “perfect” (unbeaten championship) season.

Brian Littrell said, “Shoot for the moon.  Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

Michael Jordan famously asserted that, although he didn’t make every shot he took, he intended to — his goal was to make every shot — even though his career field goal percentage was just below 50%.

Perfection — at least in the long-term — is unattainable.  You may get 100% of the points on a particular test or quiz, but it’s unlikely you’ll do it for an entire grading period.  Similarly, you may have a game in which you make 100% of your free throws or have no turnovers, but it’s next to impossible to maintain that pace for an entire season.

The point is this: AIM HIGH!  If you set your goals at the highest level and fall short, you’ll still be performing at a high level.  Your work, practice, and preparation should be done with an eye on perfection, regardless of the venue — personal, professional, academic, or athletic.  There’s no shame in not being perfect, but don’t settle for mediocrity.  Keep working toward that perfect score, assignment, or game.

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?

Don’t Let Perfect Get in the Way of Progress

Don’t worry about being perfect today.  Instead, focus on being better than yesterday — strive to be your best, in terms of attitude and effort.

Don’t compare yourself with others, don’t aspire to be better than anyone else, and don’t stress over challenges, mistakes, and setbacks.

Learn from mistakes, be persistent, and simply do what you can do to make today better than yesterday.

While it’s admirable to aim for perfection, you’ve got to be realistic and reasonable.

As Vince Lombardi said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”

Strive for perfection, settle for excellence, and — above all — keep moving forward and getting better.

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?

Don’t Settle for Average

Average.  Mediocre.  Usual.  Middling.  Run-of-the-mill.  Ordinary.  Common.

No, thank you.

It’s easy to fall into the “path of least resistance” trap.  Sometimes, it seems like that’s what everyone around us does.  It may feel safer to fit in than to stand out.

When we don’t meet our own (or others’) expectations, we tend to try to justify the result to ourselves.  We settle.

Nobody’s perfect — at least not at everything they do, all the time.  Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we fall short… we fail.  But if you strive for perfection and fall short, you can still achieve excellence.  You can still be great.

The key lies in our mental approach and work ethic.  Our willingness to pursue greatness.

Work toward your personal best in your daily endeavors, whether that be as an athlete, student, employee, or otherwise.  Try to improve upon the things that are important to you, every day.  Keep your focus internal and don’t worry about competing with others.  Strive to be better today than you were yesterday, and the rest will eventually fall in place.

Believe in you.  You’re better than average.

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?

Strive for Perfection, Settle for Excellence

Hall of Fame NFL Coach (and Cleveland area native), Don Shula, is credited with the quote, “Strive for perfection, settle for excellence.”  Ironically, it was Shula’s 1972 Miami Dolphins that, to this day, lay claim to the NFL’s only “perfect” (unbeaten championship) season.

Brian Littrell said, “Shoot for the moon.  Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

Michael Jordan famously asserted that, although he didn’t make every shot he took, he intended to — his goal was to make every shot — even though his career field goal percentage was just below 50%.

Perfection — at least in the long-term — is unattainable.  You may get 100% of the points on a particular test or quiz, but it’s unlikely you’ll do it for an entire grading period.  Similarly, you may have a game in which you make 100% of your free throws or have no turnovers, but it’s next to impossible to maintain that pace for an entire season.

The point is this: AIM HIGH!  If you set your goals at the highest level and fall short, you’ll still be performing at a high level.  Your work, practice, and preparation should be done with an eye on perfection, regardless of the venue — personal, professional, academic, or athletic.  There’s no shame in not being perfect, but don’t settle for mediocrity.  Keep working toward that perfect score, assignment, or game.

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?

Don’t Lower My Expectations… Raise Your Game!

Recently, I read a Facebook post from an old friend, Tom Bielawski.  That post is captured in the title of this blog post.  Tom further clarified, explaining that he was “just in that kinda mood today – keep up the pace or step aside.”  Tom’s comments got me thinking about Don Shula’s quote, “Strive for perfection.  Settle for excellence.”

What are you doing to raise your game?  Are you satisfied with your current level of performance or are you working to improve?  Do you truly want to be the best you can be and, if so, what are you doing (and willing to do) to accomplish that?  Here are some tips to help you improve your performance:

Establish a Baseline

It’s important to understand your starting point.  With regard to the skill(s) you want to improve, where are you today?  You’ve got to be able to objectively assess your current level of performance if you want to create a plan to improve it.

Remember, It’s You vs. You

You’ve got to work within the context of your abilities and potential.  Don’t get caught up in comparing yourself with others (trust me, there are lots of other people who will do that for you).  Your goal should be to make “today you” better than “yesterday you;” and “tomorrow you” better than “today you.”

What’s Your Goal?

Goal setting is important.  Write down your goals, and revisit them often.  What does success look like?  For that matter, what does improvement look like?

Have a Plan

You’ll need to develop a map to help you get from point A (today’s reality) to point B (tomorrow’s goal).  One of the strategies I like, that relates to both the goal setting and performance planning processes, is SMART.  Both your goal and your plan should have SMART objectives built-in.

• Specific – avoid being general or vague.
• Measurable – your action steps and goal(s) should be quantifiable.
• Actionable – your plan and goal should involve doing.
• Realistic – challenge yourself, while considering your abilities and potential.
• Timebound – set time parameters and deadlines.

Checks and Balances

It can be helpful to build “checkpoints” into your plan.  You’ll want to re-evaluate from time to time, to ensure that your action steps are consistent with your goal(s).  I like the “chunk it down” strategy.  Some goals, even though realistic, can seem immediately overwhelming.  Breaking down your goals into manageable steps can be more motivating and help you stick to your plan.

Get Help

It can be helpful to enlist the help of an expert, at least to get you started.

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?