excellence

The person who is a master in the art of living makes little distinction between their work and their play, their labor and their leisure, their mind and their body, their education and their recreation, their love and their religion.  They hardly know which is which. They simply pursue their vision of excellence and grace in whatever they do, leaving others to decide whether they are working or playing. To them, they are always doing both.

To excel is to continually perform. Not for a moment or moments. Not for a day or for days. But to perform day after day, month after month, and make that uncommon performance look commonplace. To excel is to take the inner drive of competition and not only embrace it, but master it.It is no wonder that when one truly excels, one is known for excellence. It cannot be bought or legislated or willed into existence. It must come from the depths of an individual's desire to be the best.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit

"We have a philosophy of trying to have every single product we make be the best in the world," says Chouinard [CEO of Patagonia]. "Not among the best--but the best. Every single thing, whether it's a pair of pants or a shirt, whatever."

When each of these three elements of vision--concern for excellence, for people and for the wider environment--are present, business is transformed from a tool for making profits into a creative, humane experiment for improving life.     

Future superstars don't get there by keeping part of their heart in reserve.

Ask any great athlete or the concert pianist or the successful actor if they have arrived at the place where they need no further practice. They will tell you that the higher you climb in proficiency and public acceptance, the greater the need for practice.

“Wealth does not bring about excellence, but excellence brings about wealth and all other public and private blessings for men.”

The critical question asked by a visionary company is not "How well are we doing?" or "How can we do well?" or "How well do we have to perform to meet the competition?" For these companies, the critical question is "How can we do better tomorrow than we did today?" They institutionalize this question as a way of life--a habit of mind and action. Superb execution and performance naturally come to the visionary companies not so much as an end goal, but as the residual result of a never-ending cycle of self-stimulated improvement and investment for the future...

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.