Striving for Excellence

As I traverse through my life,

I don’t want to hold any regrets,

Cos I gave in the whole of me, to be the best that I could be

I lived well because I tried!

In an age, where we have the picture-perfect lives of others staring at us, their successes being celebrated on our networks, we often experience an anxiety about where our life is headed. We wonder if things could have been different had we not made certain decisions in the past. We wonder if we are really happy and we worry will this scenario even change.

The deep root cause of this dissatisfaction is the simple fact that all of us want the best for ourselves. So when someone else has something that you desire, it is easier to blame their luck than having blamed our own decisions or efforts.

Alternately, setting external benchmarks for yourself on happiness, excellence, success is nothing short of being harsh on yourself. Yes, there are some gold standards! But what you want from life and the circumstances you encounter on your journey are very different from what the other person is going through. Superficially, everyone wants the same thing – a good job, a loving family and good health. Yet, it is unimaginable that how, just three of the most simple things, can weave into uncountable permutations for the world- each unique from the other. Everybody’s life story is different. What we can do is script our life by doing the best we can do in each circumstance, giving it our 100% and being the best we can be. When you think of it, with all the human vagaries this itself is a tough ask and can take us a lifetime to conquer.

For women, there is an added burden of perfection for the responsibilities and the roles we carry. And when you have media campaigns like Vogue’s (My Choice Campaign) that impose misdirected definitions of what women can stand up for, it is bound to leave us flabbergasted. My view is that, whether you are a man or a woman, you have complete control over your decisions and reactions. What you choose to do at a given point in time, with the best of your abilities, is your definition of excellence. Your ultimate competition is with yourself. Everyone has different abilities, capabilities, motivators and the strive to achieve something. As long as you give in your 100% day after day – you reach not only executional excellence but excellence in your mind and spirit. Because then you become an ‘unconquerable soul’ unaffected by what the others are achieving or professing. It is your world. Your excellence. At your terms.

There might be days that pull you down where you are unable to give your 100% but there are also days where you know you have given more than 100% - so remember in the end everything balances out. To quote from the famous poem ‘Invictus’, remember, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul”

Hard work, genuine efforts and a clear conscience are my ways of striving for excellence. What are yours?