Q: How do you Strive For Excellence?

Q: How do you Strive For Excellence?

Strive For Excellence In All That You Do Black belt excellence is built on the premise that anything less than a commitment to excellence is an acceptance of mediocrity. Does that mean that you have to be a perfectionist? Well, no. It does, however, mean that you should present your best effort each and every time you take on a task. Great achievement in life only comes when you make the decision to become outstanding in whatever you do. One of the most important attitudes of the black belt, however, is to focus on what works. Striving to be a perfectionist is actually counterproductive and creates undue stress. A fact that is missed by many folks is that at least 95 percent of everything they do every day works. On many days, 100 percent of what they do works. That’s life. Spending too much time on any one project in an effort to get it 100 percent perfect is unnecessary. Being too hard on yourself for not getting something perfect the first time is detrimental to your self-esteem, and results in you missing the satisfaction of the many successes that you have had. Maintaining a positive attitude, allows you to enjoy the successes that you have everyday. As long as you have given your best effort on a project, you can be satisfied in a job well done. You can always come back and make adjustments in the areas that didn’t work as well, so you’ll achieve 100 percent success the next time you do that particular task. Though, he only has three fingers on one hand, three toes on one foot, and an amputated leg, motivational speaker, Roger Crawford, became a star tennis player in high school and college. His attitude propels him towards success for whatever challenge he takes on. He says, “You miss 100 percent of all the shots that you don’t take.” Hmmm. Now there’s food for thought. As you know, even the greatest martial artists in the world never scores 100 percent of the techniques that they throw. Yet, they still keep throwing them, even if they know that they can’t be perfect. So, the question is… are you missing some shots in life simply because you’re afraid that you are not going to do them perfectly? Crawford tells his audiences, “I don’t know if a positive attitude works every time, but I know that a negative attitude work every time.” He should know. He’s living proof that a positive attitude overcomes adversity in even the most difficult of situations. A positive attitude is most effective when it is applied in a consistent manner. It needs to become a habit and, as with any other skill, it takes practice. We all inherently know what we must do to succeed. What sets a person with a black belt attitude apart is actually doing what you know you must do to succeed.

Keep kickin’Master Griffin7th Degree Black Belt InstructorPresident, CEO and Founder of KardioArts Kickboxingemail me questions at mastergriffin@mastergriffin.com612-408-3626www.mastergriffin.com http://picasaweb.google.com/mastrgrify http://gmaradioshow.podomatic.com/entry/et/welcome http://mastergriffinsblackbeltblog.blogspot.com/ myspace handwrapping video click here with master griffin www.facebook.com