“Excellence is not an act, its a habit.” – Aristotle
The summer Olympic games are in full swing and it is inspiring to see the athletes give their best. It makes me think about the day after day discipline and training they put in to qualify for these elite games. They have the same amount of time in a day as the rest of us and they have made choices in their daily habits that have resulted in a high level of excellence.
Thriving in your life and work takes the same type of disciplined choices every day. Thankfully, it does not mean you have to spend hours every day swimming laps in a pool or building your strength and agility on a balance beam but just as the athletes are disciplined with their physical work, they also must be disciplined with their choices, thoughts and attitude.
Our human nature loves some level of routine and comfort and it is a challenge to shift into a new habit or let go of an old habit that may not be serving us. It takes practice, forgiveness and then starting again. The forgiveness is in letting go of that critical voice, “there you go again, I told you that you couldn’t stick with that” or “you should have started doing this years ago, what is the point now.” Starting again is the choice to be in the moment and realize that even just a small step forward will lead to more excellence and thriving.
Being OK with being uncomfortable is part of what those Olympic athletes have embraced in their quest toward excellence. Any time you start a new habit or attempt to make a shift up to a higher level of excellence, you will feel some discomfort. Embrace the uncomfortable feeling, realize that it is only temporary and keep going. As I have worked to increase my fitness level, my trainer reminds me, “It is OK to be bad at this, you will get better.” He says this in reaction to the look of defeat and agony on my face as I attempt to do a pull-up and strain and struggle. It would be easier to just quit, but I repeat his words in my head and know that eventually I will get better.
Enjoy the Olympic summer games, keep making those daily choices in your thoughts and actions and embrace your discomfort as you shift to higher levels of excellence and thrive!
Photo credit via Flickr creative commons: Falcon Writing