The Art of Excellence

-A habit is a conscious behavior in response to an emotional trigger

I want to talk about Excellence. The pursuit of excellence is very real and very hard. Aristotle said, which was translated by Will Durant, excellence is an art won through training and habituation. He says that excellence, therefore, is formed through habit, and is won by those individuals that are willing to do the work necessary. DAILY!!! If you are a person that is seeking excellence, you have to put excellence into practice, that’s the art. The art is how YOU envision it. Your creativity will design your art. The science is the concept. So, the concept of habit, consistency, doing the same thing day by day, will get you to where you want to go, but it is the art, how you design your process, that will keep you there. Your art is not like my art. You may not want to do things the way I do them, you do not have to. Exercise your creativity in a way that works best for you. Because we are different, but we are all creative. Look, a virtuous man is not virtuous because he sat down and wrote out what his values are. A virtuous man is virtuous because he acts on those values. You are what you consistently do. There is no getting away from that. So, if you are a person who says, well, I am a high value, high character, high moral, high principled individual, but you do not exude that on a daily basis, then you are not! You are experiencing what we typically refer to as cognitive dissonance, where the behaviors, thoughts, and actions are not in alignment. You are in fact speaking and thinking in one way, and you are behaving in another. I encourage you to be excellent in your pursuits. Go out and form good habits that are geared towards trying to get to where you are trying to go. But remember, it is only through the art, through your practical application of your creativity, that you will be taken where you need to go. But you must do it. And you must be consistent about doing it. Beware of bad habits though. You can have those as well. Know the difference. If you want good habits. It takes good training. Good habituation. As Aristotle put it. Attempt to EXCEL. BE EXCELLENT. But practice excellence on the way there. Because you show up in the way in which you continually do. Therefore, excellence is an art, performed by the artist that continues to do what is necessary to be excellent.

-Here is a plan of action to turn excellence into a habit

· Take action

· Put in the requisite work

· Keep working; Daily — It gets easier with consistency

· Create a schedule

· Identify/Develop keystone habits

· Make your bed every morning

· Be positive; Daily

Thank you for reading and striving for excellence.