Chasing Perfection

Good morning,

It’s Friday! Today’s success tip is simple but challenging. I live by it and yet it’s difficult to put into words.

Vince Lombardi put it this way: “Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”

It’s true that chasing perfection can be dangerous. But only if we’re unable to recognize and appreciate excellence when we catch it.

We could brainstorm lots of analogies, like:
- to get an A on a test (90% or higher) we’d better study for 100%. If we only study for 90% then we’re likely to end up with 80% when we crack under pressure…
- to close 10 new deals, we’d better attempt at least 12 in case some fall through…
- to break an Olympic record, train to go even faster or even further because “race day” may not bring out your personal best (I heard a great story about this years ago at a seminar; wish I still remembered who the athlete was)
- Here’s one! Goal: 0 typos. Result: fewer typos than if I had a more lenient goal…

The simple truth is that we often fall short of our potential. But that doesn’t mean we should lower our goals. Instead, try aiming even higher. If you want to win any Olympic medal, go for the Gold!

Or to paraphrase Vince Lombardi - To achieve excellence, strive for perfection.

And have a Sunny Day!

Clarity

P.S. Imagine if we all had the following work ethic. "There's only two things I had to do to win the Olympic gold,” said Olympic Gold Medalist Peter Vidmar, “Train when I wanted to, and train when I didn't."

More about athlete Peter Vidmar is located here: http://www.petervidmarinvite.org/. More about coach Vince Lombardi is located here: http://www.vincelombardi.com/.

Clarity Patton Newhouse
Metropolitan Lincoln Mercury
32000 Ford Road
Garden City, MI 48135