To me, it’s amazing when I read a book and the ideas behind it resonate so strongly that I feel as if the author took the words out of my head and heart and put them on paper.
Terry Orlick, author of In Pursuit Of Excellence, did exactly this in his inspirational book . . . so much so that the majority of this post is in his words.
It does not matter WHAT you decide to do, as long as what you choose to do is exactly what you WANT to do. Fitness goals. Improved health and fat loss. Family. Career and financial aspirations. Fun and Games. Travel. Friends. Everything and Anything you want to do, you CAN do. All you’ve got to do is identify what you want . . . and then choose to go after it until you get it.
Do this, and it’s hard to imagine that you’ll ever have an unfulfilled, unhappy-feeling day for the rest of your life!
Excerpt Below from In Pursuit Of Excellence
By Terry Orlick, PhD
Excellence in every part of your life is a decision — decide to excel.
Excellence is a choice — choose to excel.
Excellence is full focus — focus, focus, focus . . .
Decide what it is that you really want to do.
Decide to do what you really want to do. Choose to do it!
Focus fully on doing what you want to do — every day . . .
Virtually everything that you do or do not do in your life is ruled by the choices that you make. You can choose to excel or choose not to excel. You can choose to bring focus and quality to what you do or choose not to. You can choose to get stressed out about things beyond your control or choose not to. You can choose to let other people upset you or choose not to. You can choose to approach obstacles and react to challenging situations in positive ways or in negative ways. You can choose to dwell n the negatives or focus on the positives. You can choose to embrace your dreams and go after them or let them drift away without really trying. These are your choices, and your choices direct the quality of your performance and the joyfulness of your life. You decide.
I have never met an Olympic champion, world champion, or world leader in any field who did not decide that he or she was going to go after his or her goals with full focus. If you want to perform and live to your personal potential, at some point you have to decide to do it with full focus. After you decide to pursue your dream or follow a path with focus and commitment, the next challenge often becomes staying on that path when it becomes bumpy. The first big step is choosing to excel. The next big step, which is sometimes even more challenging is deciding to persist through the obstacles. No one reaches his or her personal potential without facing obstacles, setbacks, and challenges along the way. Adversity is a normal part of the journey to excellence in every field.
People who are successful at persisting through obstacles, challenges, setbacks, bad patches, uncertainties, doubts, and sometimes fear find a way to keep a sense of purpose, passion, or perspective in their pursuit. They feel that they have meaningful reasons for doing what they are doing and are able to retain those reasons for doing it. What are your reasons for doing what you are doing, for pursuing what you are pursuing? Why are you doing it? What are you hoping you pursuit will give you in the short run and in the long run? What do you like or love about doing it? What do you hope it will give you and those who have supported you or those you care about?
If you can retain your passion for pursuing your dream and find sustainable reasons for doing it, pure excellence will become a realistic goal. If you lose your passion for pursuing your dream and are not able to find sustainable reasons for continuing to do it, pure excellence will become an elusive goal. Retention of passion, retention of purpose, retention of focus, retention of love or joy, and retention of choice are all essential for living your dream of personal excellence (pp. 3-4).
Take the time to discover your dreams.
Take the time to write them down.
Remind yourself of those dreams every time you remember, every chance you get.
Go get ‘em!!
Here’s to your EXCELLENT life!!
Awesome post buddy – will have to pick this book up! That snapshot reminds me of what I tell my clients, friends and family on a regular basis! You have a choice in everything – like you have the choice to be happy or sad, it is easier to be sad but more worthwhile spending the time to be happy!
Keep em coming!
Hi Christopher – - – great post ! These are the things that we need as health care professionals, moreso here in NYC. Our clients/patients are becoming more challenging with more complex diagnonis. But at the end, we always have to put our best foot forward and strive for excellence.
How I wish you can spare some time from your busy sched to give a little talk regarding this topic to us — Nurses at New York Presbyterian Hospital. We want to continue giving excellent care ALWAYS !!!
Joneb,
All the best to you!!
Great to hear from you! I appreciate your feedback. Perhaps I can help you out regarding this topic. Thank you for your consideration in talking about it! Send me a PM and let’s see if we can schedule something while I’m in the city. If not, maybe there’s a way we can do a video conference!