Universal lessons

In my short 26 years, I've notice there are a number of universal lessons that can be applicable to all areas of my life. Be it training, career, church and at home. One of the lesson is being positive in all circumstances. This weekend, I was hammered with another lesson.

Excellence

Sat night, I had a called from my boss' wife requesting a meeting with me. Obviously this does not sound well. I look back and did a personal review on my job performance. There were a number of things where I need to focus on. I talked to my sis about it. She pointed out a lot of unappealing facts about me that I have to work on. (Note: I generally found those who care about me are the one who are frank about my flaws and area of weaknesses. )

Today, there was a sermon on excellence.

The opposite of excellence is mediocracy. Which is doing just enough to be acceptable.

Excellence is not perfection.
Perfection, you get 100% (result focus)
Excellence, you give 100% (effort driven)

One is external and one is internal.

To be excellent, we do our best even when no one is looking.

If you are into triathlon and follow Gordo's training, you will most likely picked up another thought. It is to finish strong in everything you start. This has became a mental strategy in all my races. The longer the race, the more I focus and the stronger I become. Regardless of time or results.

Am I finishing strong at the end:

At work?
At Church?
At home?
At training?

I admit, at work I am not excellent. I am just mediocre. I don't like the sound of it. It is the truth. My truth.

Isn't that the opposite of finishing strong?
If I can apply it to one area of my life, shouldn't I be consistent in applying it in ALL area of my life?

From a logic standpoint, wouldn't I be spending a lot more energy to invest instead of focusing in one area? Mental energy is not finite. I notice when I am excellent in one area, in return, I gain a lot more mental energy which I can invest into other areas of my life.

When I am medicore, my mental energy level is low and can barely focus on doing other things.

In reality, doing a job, a project, the energy spent between mediocre and excellent are minimal. I even think that the differences between energy (mental, not physical) spent on mediocracy to excellcency are negligible.

My mom use to say:

You can lie to others but you can't lie to yourself.

I am a very poor liar. I notice when I am not consistent in my life, I can't lie to myself. Some people can do it. Not me.

When one area of my life is out of whack, stress and frustration arises. When my life is consistent through out, I am at peace.

Side note: Meeting turned out better than I thought. Ideas were exchanged. Some of my own personal weaknesses were identified.