Excellence Comes from Within and Without

Steve Jobs, past CEO of Apple, said it best when he proclaimed, “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

Is excellence your strong suit at work and at home? Do you think excellence stops when you walk through the front door where your family awaits you at day’s end? Don’t your loved ones deserve the same quality of person at home that you are at work?

Excellence comes from a positive attitude within and positive energy surroundings without. Have you paved the way for excellence in your thinking and in your surroundings so you can maintain that same level wherever you are?

Because excellence thrives on positive energy, it is important to generate as much positive energy as possible whether at home or work. A negative outlook on life or a lot of physical clutter in your path acts as mental and emotional constipation inhibits and prevents forward movement, improved relationships and quality of life. Expect excellence and it will manifest itself, but do not confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence is defined as quality or state of being that is outstanding and superior, the best you can be at that moment in time, whereas perfection is someone being flawless or without fault.

At home, excellence is all about nurturing and connecting family relationships, so they can be a singular unit supportive of each other with the home as their sanctuary. At work, excellence helps a business grow financially, expand its services and find new sources of income. It provides a low-stress environment, encourages productive focused employees and realizes satisfied customers.

This type of excellence comes from creating a lifestyle based on the Feng Shui principles of eliminating clutter that stands in the way and creating an environment that encourages new and uplifting thoughts.

Make Room for Excellence Within

Excellence begins with a focused desire within to be the best you can be and not focus on all the woes of the day, week or year(s). Creating excellence within begins with a mind that is free of clutter, focused on quality and receptive to new ideas and change. You can’t live in yesterday’s failures and disappointments if you expect to be a person of quality and excellence tomorrow.

Eliminate yesterday’s negatives and make room for tomorrow’s opportunities by writing down the negative thoughts and experiences from the past that are holding you back onto a tablet or into a computer document. Then take that paper or computer document and trash, shred or delete it. Do not allow any additional negative thoughts to enter – they do not serve you well nor do they help you achieve the excellence you desire. In the beginning this may seem like an endless project but this process of elimination, if diligently maintained, will work. When the desire is great, quality and excellence will always overcome the negatives and failure.

If you’ve had a bad day at work, leave it at work. Do not bring it home and dump it on your family - check it at the door and change your thinking. Excellence at home means maintaining the home as a sacred sanctuary. Reverse this process for going to work if you’ve had a bad experience at home.

Eliminating all negative thinking from your daily activities is an ongoing process. Treasure your thoughts wisely as they are more valuable than gold.

Make Room for Excellence Without

Clutter is every bit as much of a problem in your surroundings as it is in your mind. Eliminate things that are broken or no longer needed. File stacks of paper as needed. Save them as permanent records or as part of on-going work and trash the rest. Old inventory, piles of paper, broken and outdated items, cluttered desks and counters create negative energy and do not allow for excellence to thrive. Clutter is external constipation in your surroundings and much like in the mind, prevents excellence in the form of new business ideas, new clients, and new income-generating revenue streams.

Relationships at home and work are critical to your success. Not only do you need energized employees that stay focused and have a high work ethic, but you also need satisfied customers and a happy home life. Good relationships, whether personal or professional, turn into helpful people in your life and improve upon your excellence. It is helpful people that spread by word of mouth how good you are or how well they were treated by you. It is helpful supportive people that bring you new customers. They are your best walking and talking advertisement, support system and cheerleader all in one.

Expect Excellence

It isn’t enough to say you want to achieve excellence. You not only need to expect it, demand it and reach for it but also invite it into your life. Attraction requires action! Take the steps above and then leave open an eternal pipeline to constantly receive new and expansive thinking that will take you to the next level of excellence. A person of quality and excellence never remains stationary. They are constantly doing everything necessary to move forward, improve and expand their horizons by reading, doing volunteer work and finding creative outlets – and along on their road to excellence, they inspire others through encouragement or by example.

Excellence serves the business community in the same way it serves in the home. When excellence is encouraged and shown by example, it raises the level of quality throughout. Expect excellence and set an environment where it is not only desired but demanded and it will happen.

© Pat Heydlauff, all rights reserved 2012