YOU WILL BECOME

"FOR UNTO EVERYONE THAT HATH SHALL BE GIVEN, AND HE SHALL HAVE ABUNDANCE. BUT FROM HIM THAT HATH NOT SHALL BE TAKEN AWAY EVEN THAT WHICH HE HATH." -Matthew 25:29

When I was younger I marveled at the unfairness of the verse above, until I came to understand the true meaning.
What you do with what you have been given determines what you will be given.  Expecting more when you haven't utilized what you have already is futile. So you can go on and on about how tomorrow will be better and how great you'll be in the future but as long as you're not doing enough to facilitate that future you'll continuously tell yourself the same thing until one day you realize you're living in the future and it's not as grand as you expected it to be.
This is why you must push yourself today to do better than you did yesterday, only the mediocre are always at their best. Striving towards excellence should be the goal at all times and in all situations.
It is important to note that in striving for excellence the measure for success is yourself, yeah that's right... there's no one else in this equation but you. This means that you're in competition with no one but yourself. The goal is to beat your former self again and again.

There are lots of reasons why people settle for less but the most prominent is that it is easier to do. The truth remains that striving for excellence will always be hard, there's no easy way to go about it but whoever said success was easy to come by?
Now let's get you on a fast track to excellence. Here are a few tips to aid you in achieving success through excellence:
Identify your passion: Some people find their passion quite early in life, some others not so much. The average youth is still trying to figure out where they fit in. There's no sure route to discovering your passion so you have to explore (positively and diligently) and be exposed to unique experiences. Seek knowledge and continuously put yourself in situations that push you to learn more. Find out what works for you and run with it. You can only push yourself to do more when you love what you're doing.

Purposefully work towards achieving a meaningful goal: It's important that you give meaning to your work. Engage your passion for a meaningful purpose this makes even the hardest work easy. Hard work is a prison sentence only when it has no meaning. Be precise about your goal and break it down into smaller weekly and daily goals to make it more attainable. Always be ready to use your passion to serve others. The key word here is to serve, serve and serve. Your passion is for you, your purpose is for others.

Get rid of negativity: The energy around you is what pushes you when you feel you're almost at your breaking point. If you're surrounded by negative energy then it will only aid in pushing the knife in. The fastest way to change your life is to change your circle, this points to the fact that whether you like it or not the people you surround yourself with are going to determine what direction you're headed toward. Be sure to surround yourself with the right kind of energy and vibe. Do not subscribe to relationships that add no value to you. You're only going to keep getting better when you're around people who also want to keep getting better so mediocres are a no-no for you.

Look back: Most times in our journey towards achieving a goal we only look ahead and forget yesterday. It is important to keep track and analyse what has been achieved and how it was achieved not just for the obvious reason of pointing out mistakes to avoid in future but also to figure out what actually worked. Fine tuning ideas and solutions and getting them to work in different situations makes you better at handling new situations. It is only when you look back that you can truly do better in future. Teach yourself to get better at doing what you do by going over what you have done before and learning from it.

Be consistent in your pursuit of excellence. Long term consistency is more effective than short term intensity. Take it slowly when you need to but do not stop. Don't try to swallow too much too fast.

When you do feel overwhelmed go over the tips above and do them all over again. Identify your passion again, relate it to a meaningful purpose, get rid of bad energy and look back at how far you've come. Do this as many times as you need to because your drive comes from within.




written by: Nanbam David