bcg blog

​Excellence Over Success

Success means a lot of different things to people. To some it’s money and status, to others it’s happiness and contentment. Winning seems like a clear indication of success, yet anyone that has ever competed knows the feeling of playing down to the level of competition - and it doesn’t feel like success. 

It’s interesting that something as seemingly definite as success varies in definition. But, the reason shouldn’t surprise us. Success gauges itself by comparison. We are successful, or not successful, in relation to those around us. This comparison is the reason behind the varying definitions of success. We only need to be ‘better than’ the next person in order to be successful. Sometimes that takes our best effort, sometimes it doesn’t.

Excellence, on the other hand, is consistent.

Why Should We Care?
Excellence requires your best. That’s it. Every. Time. 

The problem is, you can’t measure it with a scoreboard or a bank account. Excellence doesn’t work like that. While success is often an external event, excellence remains an internal experience. You are the only one that truly knows if your effort, preparation, and performance were your very best. 

So, most people become content accepting success instead of chasing excellence. Why? Because it’s easier. It doesn’t require the self-reflection, self-awareness, and self-assessment that excellence does. Pursuing excellence will leave you feeling incompetent and incapable, but it will also leave you with truth. You will know who you are. And when you do touch excellence, you’ll understand why you’re willing to endure all the struggles to pursue it.

Success, on the other hand, is a liar. You can’t trust it. It will tell you that you’re not enough when you are inches from excellence and it will fool you with praise and glory when you are nowhere near your potential.

REAL TALK - Action Steps
The question is how do you pursue excellence and not success? Here are a few action items that will get you started down the path to excellence

• Define Excellence 
  
  • What is it? What does it look like? What does it feel like? Though success is often viewed as a result, excellence is not. Excellence is rooted in your process for living. Your core values are the foundation of that process.
    

• Select Your Core Values
  
  • Your core values are not only what you believe, but also what you actually do. Your values are actions, they’re behaviors. Consider those you admire and examine the attributes they have that make them virtuous. 
    

• Define Your Core Values
  
  • Identify what your core values look like. What is the behavior that ensures that your core value happens. For example, one of my core values is Tough. Tough can have hundreds of definitions, or attributes, none of which are right or wrong. How you define your core values is your decision, and no one else's. For me, Tough is positive body language. The clarity around that definition is the important part. If I never defined Tough in my terms, I would be left with hundreds of definitions and would fail to act on it.
    

Excellence over success -  a seemingly easy choice, but one very few people consciously make. You have the choice too. Choose process over results. Choose internal satisfaction over external recognition.

For more information on building excellence in your teams, visit us at www.bluecollargrit.com. 
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