Why Not Be the Best at Anything You Can?
Hey Everybody!
Today I want to share a story with you that’s been on my mind.
As some of you know, I have two young daughters, and lately, the idea of striving for excellence has been coming up a lot in our conversations. They are both very active in soccer, and in the midst of their education in elementary and middle school. I’ve realized there are some powerful parallels between teaching this concept to children and how we, as adults, approach our own goals—especially in business.
Key Takeaways:
1. Striving for Excellence Takes Effort:
Whether you're a child learning something new or an adult building a business, striving for excellence requires intentional effort. It’s easy to be mediocre at something, but if you want to become great, you need to dedicate the time and energy to make that happen. It’s the same lesson I’m trying to pass on to my kids—if you want to be good at something, you have to put in the work.
2. It's About Your Approach:
Whether it’s in school, a hobby, a sport, or building an online business, the key to becoming great lies in your approach. How much effort are you willing to dedicate? Success isn’t just handed out—it’s earned through focus, commitment, and consistency.
3. Choose Your Battles:
We can’t be excellent at everything. We don’t have enough time or energy to master every area of life, so we need to pick and choose what’s most important to us. If your goal is to become successful in business, for example, then it’s going to take that same dedication and time commitment to make it happen. But the great news is, it’s entirely possible for anyone who sets their mind to it!
Your Goal for the Week:
Whatever you’re focusing on—whether it's your business or any other area—strive for excellence. Put in the time, put in the effort, and know that your success is within reach.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this concept. What does striving for excellence mean to you? Jump down into the comments and share your feedback, I’d love to hear it! :)
Recent Comments
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This is a super post-mid-week. Excellence! Mmmmm!
For me, it's all about pushing out limits and going out of my comfort zone! It's also about the balance between body and mind - and I'm sure that's the case for baseball players. But for excelling on the Internet, it's even more crucial to be balanced. It's a virtual challenge, so we must be doubly sure of our goals and skills and then add the resilience needed to cope with tech and unknown challenges, updates and everything moving at lightning speed.
Mmmmmmm. It throws up lots of spiritual questions, too. How does manoeuvring a ball around a court compare with keeping a website well-ranked and appealing.
Lots to think about here, Kyle.
Let's discuss this again!
Thanks for getting the juices flowing.
L
Really glad you enjoyed this post. It is revelational when I have to teach my kids how success works, starting with much smaller ideas and concepts but I don't think most of us have a "built in success" approach. We are taught by those around us, and often times those that are really successful in life and business have influential figures around them educating them on this sort of thing.
And yes, there are correlations to learning basketball...and becoming good at it, and becoming good at business as well. You practice like you play is a big one I am driving home with our u-13 team. Girls have the tendency to practice less on their own, and it is a social outlet and they need to be cohesive as a group to achieve success (boys don't care).
Girls need to BOND to BATTLE, Boys need to BATTLE to BOND. Something that I am also familiarizing myself with. It has to remain a social thing, combined with some principles that lead to them working hard and getting better.
Anyways, I digress. As with anything I do in life, I want to be good at coaching in the same way I want to be good at business, in the same way as I want to be good at parenting, in the same way I want to be good at XYZ.
Thank you for your words of wisdom, Kyle. I feel like every time I start getting discouraged, motivational Mondays picks me back up again. I have found perseverance to be so important in many things in life. There's plenty of days when I don't feel like exercising, but I've realized that when I just put my head down and get it done I'm always glad I did. It's not always easy to put the work in to make yourself better, but I never regret it afterwards.
Glad to hear these pick you up. The thing is we all have ebbs and flows in our business. Those should be expected, and you are going to have highs and lows as you move forward, you just have to move through those with consistency. Just the same as you do with exercise.
And you have a community of help and support you can lean on if you ever need a hand with anything at all. :)
"As a parent and entrepreneur, I've learned that striving for excellence requires 3 key elements: intentional effort, commitment, and focus. Teach yourself and others to prioritize what matters, put in the work, and succeed. Challenge yourself this week to excel in one area - success is within reach!"
Thank you, Kyle, for the words of motivation.
Although there could be setbacks due to one reason or another, distractions and other factors vying for those scarce resources: time, energy, and dedication.
However, with words on marble such as this post and others, inspiration, energy, direction, and light could be directed to those dark enclaves in prioritizing and decision-making, as it applies to every facets of our lives.
I wish you a nice day, Kyle.
Thanks.
- Makinde
It absolutely does. There will be setbacks and times when you simply don't want to "do" what is required to get better at something (and that will improve our futures). That is something that we all contend with.
I think it comes down to keeping things simple though...and not overthinking things. That is what will naturally lead to a lot more success. ;)
I totally agree with you, Kyle.
Simplicity and focusing on the long-term goal (future) tend to keep us on our toes and feet.
Thank you, Kyle.
- Makinde
Incredible post, Kyle, thanks! This really hit home for me.
In my definition, it all starts with mindset. When I set my heart on something, watch out, everyone! There's no stopping me, even when things get tough. I am up to the task.
I am not bound by limiting beliefs. I keep my options open and leverage opportunities to the best of my ability, and I have so much creativity. Once I start pushing past, a whole new world opens up!
I love what you said about choosing our battles. We can't be rock stars at everything, but picking something you're passionate about—that's where the magic happens.
Thanks for the motivation boost, Kyle. It's got me fired to keep pushing, growing, and chasing that excellence. I am learning more than ever, especially since I started attending the weekly webinar classes. I will do my utmost to make those dreams happen!
I appreciate it so much.
Abie
That is great Abie. Watch out world!
That is the approach we should take to anything we want to achieve, to set our butts on fire and to motivate ourselves to get better at that thing daily.
Like you said, we can't be great at everything so we have to pick and choose. And it is OK to be mediocre at some things that you don't have any interest in being great at. But dedicate yourself to getting better at the things that you want to be good at, and do something daily to make that happen.
I am learning a lot about growth through coaching, and the kids that do just a little bit more than the others, become a lot better, a lot faster. That is also what can happen as adults. Status quo doesn't lead to greatness. :)
Excellent Abie. Yes, it's fired me up, too. It's all about passion, isn't it!
Great to hear from you!
Linden
Hear-hear! Complacency will never lead to greatness. It's about caring about something in extremist! That's what we humans are so good at. That's why we're special I think.
Yes, coaching, is an amazing journey, isn't it. I would be quite a different person now if I hadn't spent my life teaching others.
I can honestly say that I learned SO much from my students!!
L.
Good morning Kyle,
Thank you for your motivational video, it's appreciated.
It's always good to go for excellence, but at the same time, I know of people who get held back due to their perfection. They feel that they will never be able to do something as good as they would like it to be. On the other end of the scale, perfection can sometimes be an excuse to get out of not doing anything. I know you are not directly talking about perfection.
I'm actually doing something that I never expected to be doing, I am more of a hands-on outside type, countryman! However, I think we just have to go for it and take action and try and improve as we go.
I believe it's better to make mistakes in what we do, than to do nothing at all. We can learn from our mistakes and we can improve. When I had my first website in 2004 for my offline business, I was shocked that the Webmaster expected me to write my own content, it was something that I knew I couldn't do. However, I know I'm not the perfect writer, but I'm far better than what I was 20 years ago! I really didn't know where to start back then, but it is amazing how we can learn.
I'm also grateful that we have access to so much training here at Wealthy Affiliate. I know some things change, but there is so much content, as in training on the platform, I know I can learn so much more.
Have a fantastic day, Kyle.
Roy
Yeah, we always take the approach now to get things out there knowing they are imperfect, because people tend to have all sorts of feedback that will help you improve more efficiently (versus you trying to think of every potential situation that a user could run into).
So that is our approach, because nothing is perfect and we are all pushing forward seeking perfection (which doesn't exist), but it is an incremental journey trying to get there...and get "closer" to perfect.
Thanks so much for your feedback and sharing your isights here about your offline business Roy, appreciate it as always! :)
Great Roy! It's so lovely to hear your personal story and struggles to illustrate the point! Yes, I agree that if we strive really sincerely to be excellent at something, we are so much more likely to grow and expand as people and get closer to realising our incredible potential.
Yes, the wealth of training at WA is second to none! So, we stand a better chance than most of reaching our aspirations!
🌺 Best
Linden
I understand where you're coming from, Kyle. Things move so quickly today, especially in the Internet marketing world. I'm guessing that a training video, in some cases, could be out of date very quickly if Google changes something. Nothing is actually totally perfect in this world! (Just read your second paragraph before I read your second paragraph, Kyle, regarding my previous sentence!)
Thank you, Kyle. It's good to participate on the platform.
Have a great day.
Roy
Thank you for your comment, Lindi, it's appreciated.
I think we all have a story to tell, which kind of makes life interesting! I follow a successful YouTuber who teaches YouTube. One of his sayings is "Just press record", and another one is "Your first video is going to be the worst"!
I know what it was like when I first started out online quite a long time ago now; there was far too much guesswork involved. I like to have training that I can refer to at any time in the day.
Wishing you a great day.
Roy
Hey Kyle, I'm not sure how old your girls are, in teaching them to succeed follow the Montessori rules. For example, if they want to get on the big swing they have to be able to do it for themselves. This is a Montessori teaching rules. A few years ago, when I was an on call substitute and an afterschool leader for these little kids (age 4 - 11) the kids had to know how to swing first before getting on. I led by example and showed them how to do it by using their legs and arms. As they wanted to be on the big swing at the school they learned fast.
I always strive to be the best in everything I do Kyle, but... it's just not possible with what... another 8 billion people on the planet today!!
For me... it's about learning what I can today, so I am a better person and more knowledgeable when I wake up tomorrow!!
Have a fantastic week ahead my friend! :-)
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I really need to hear this often! This work online with the WA is a real and hard challange for me, being a practical dreamy artist who would like to paint and nothing else! Lol..
But, in order to find an income that can help me live the life I so much want, I need to update my preconceived notions about myself, what I can and can't do.
I know you can do it, Karin.
With the help and support of everyone here.
Small daily actions, consistenly, ultimately brings results.
Good luck.
Richard
Can I ask what you have planned for this transition? However, it sounds encouraging, and absolutely, anything is possible when we set our minds on something. Wishing you well and all he best.
Abie
You are a creative mind. Creativity takes you place when you are creating art and certainly can in business, but sometimes it can lead to less productivity as you may be overthinking on the creative side of things.
Head in a niche you can talk about all day...and that you get a kick out of helping others with. That will need to a lot more productivity and a much more substantial business. :)