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Make Excellence Part of Your Daily Routine

Excellence is certainly not ordinary. It is special. It is also however, for the most part, not a chance or accidental occurrence. Excellence results from consistent preparation, positive beliefs and attention to detail. Excellence occurs when we make it the standard for our daily routine. If we practice well, we can be pretty sure we will have results consistent with that level of preparation. If we practice carelessly or inconsistently we will probably have a result consistent with that (low) level of preparedness. The exciting message is that if we practice consistently well, we usually have successful results.

Let's recognize, by the way, that successful results are not just a best time. Best times are the goal. They are the result of incremental improvements. Bits of excellence, such as executing fast turns and breakouts or splitting a race evenly, lead to our ultimate goals. Consistently tend to details and excellence will become part of your routine.

“Sloppiness is a disease; nobody ever built a great organization just worrying about the big things. It's the little things that give you the edge. The important thing is to find people who are committed to details and to standards of excellence"
Coach Joe Paterno / Penn State

When we make excellence a part of our routine, we tend to have repeated successes. This is fun and powerful in two ways. First, repeated success means we are doing things well. Doing things consistently well lets a correct skill become second nature. When a skill becomes second nature, we do not expend time and effort thinking about it. Things simply FLOW. Another benefit of doing things consistently well is that we receive positive feedback. Success feels good. Success is fun, it raises our confidence and it motivates us to keep improving.

There is one catch. People sometimes make a mistake of confusing excellence with perfection. Excellence is simply doing something the very best that you know how to, and then looking for ways to improve upon that! DO not aim for perfection. We all make mistakes, and we all can improve. IF perfection is our only acceptable standard we may not let our self enjoy the satisfaction of the otherwise excellent efforts. Swimming can get frustrating and not be much fun if we demand perfection. We run the risk of beating ourselves up mentally if we expect (demand) perfection. SEEK EXCELLENCE, NOT PERFECTION.

In the process of learning and improving, we make mistakes. Mistakes are not the goal. We probably do not enjoy making mistakes. They are however part of almost any process aimed at being the best that you can be. This is true in all areas of life, not just swimming. Requiring perfection risks action to avoid mistakes rather than seeking excellence because mistakes become unacceptable yet virtually unavoidable. MISTAKES ARE PART OF THE LEARNING PROCESS.

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