Career
Pathways
Achieving Excellence: How to become Excellent
Excellence is a trait we all admire, an, yet, is a trait which is so rarely seen in practice. We all have met people who have demonstrated “excellence” in their respective fields – and they please us with their every action. Still, excellence remains a rare quality which very few seem to possess. People always seem to ask “How do they do it?”, and, more importantly, “How do we become excellent at what we do?” The answer to these questions is not as difficult as it first appears. When we encounter someone who we can truly describe as “excellent”, it always appears as if they do it effortlessly. Yet, there is a secret to this seemingly effortless show of excellence. This secret is motivation – the secret ingredient to excellence.
The next questions that naturally arise is, first, what is motivation, and second, how do we become motivated? Motivation is simply the force that drives us. It is a natural phenomenon, which helps truly excellent people to perform what they do well, no matter what it is. It is a fundamental component of their genetic makeup. However, it would not be correct to say that people who are not sufficiently motivated cannot deliver the highest possible standards of performance. Motivation can be developed and cultivated. The key is to identify your motivation and then combine that motivation with your knowledge, skills and experience in order to deliver your best. Without adequate motivation, you cannot deliver your best effort – or be “excellent” – no matter how much effort you put in. Without motivation, or even with low motivation, the end product or effort will at best be mediocre. Thus they first step to be excellent is to discover what your motivations are – in other words, what can you do well, or what drives you?
