“We will be relentless in our pursuit for perfection. We won’t ever be perfect – but in the process we will achieve greatness.”

Vince Lombardi

All the great ones, in the history of mankind, have engaged in the relentless pursuit for perfection in their chosen field. (In no particular order: Einstein, Edison, Lombardi, Ali, Federer, Buffet, Gates and Carver, to name a very few.)

I’ve heard it said that being a perfectionist is a bad thing.  I get the whole OCD thing (I’ve got the OCD thing), but pursuing perfection is a really good thing.  In fact, if you do not aim for the bull’s eye of the target, you have almost no chance of hitting it.  (And ZERO chance of hitting it consistently.)

As a firearms instructor for the U.S. State Department, I have had the privilege of training many troopers from various nations.  Many times, the prevailing philosophy during these training evolutions was that the qualification standards should be lowered, so the majority of troops could pass. YIKES!

The lowering of standards is becoming a pandemic in this day and age.  When expectations are lowered, performance goes down with it. Lowering the aiming point from perfection to below mediocre, does an injustice and disservice to all participants, be it weight loss clients, students, athletes, soldiers or business executives, it short changes everyone involved.

I firmly believe that given enough training and deliberate practice, coupled with relentless desire and the pursuit of perfection, nearly every human being on the planet can achieve whatever they set out to do.

What expectations and standards have you set for yourself? Are you relentlessly pursuing, at least excellence, if not perfection, in your field?  Have you even chosen a field yet, or are you doing something you don’t even like?

Here’s the highway to greatness: Find what you love to do, DO IT, set high expectations and standards for yourself (HINT: perfection), now be relentless in your pursuit for perfection – doing what you love to do.

It took me a few years but I finally found the on-ramp, there’s no traffic jam, so plenty of room for more.

Boo Yah!