I'm willing to bet that you have a significant, underlying philosophy that guides your life in every decision you make and action and you take. You might say no, but I would strongly disagree. Everyone has a philosophy and it is expressed in every aspect of your daily life.
Philosophy is nothing more than having a set of ideas or principles about how to live. But these ideas permeate every nook and cranny of your life. For most of us, our philosophy of life was developed by our MFTP (mothers, fathers, teachers and preachers) or people of influence in our life.
Having a philosophy is not an esoteric concept or something for only the highly educated. No, our philosophy is at the core of our being and serves as a guideline for all of our actions and decisions. Things as simple as choosing Charmin or Cottonelle is based on our philosophy; american made cars or imports; chess or football; cash or credit.
Here are a few samples of philosophies that can easily be seen demonstrated around you in the people with whom you associate:
- Life's a b*#@& and then you die
- The whole world is out to get me so I must fight back
- Everyone else does it, so should I.
- My life is a result of luck and chance
- I am a victim of my circumstance
- If it is to be it is up to me
- Hard work pays big dividends
- The least amount of effort to simply get by
So whether you have consciously developed a personal philosophy or simply fell into one by default as a result of our MFTP, we all have one. Think about yours.
Now, let me share with you a common philosophy of winners, people who excel in everything that they do. Honestly, it is one word: Excellence. Expanded, it can be a bunch of words and ideas, but my favorite explanation is this: how I do anything is how I do everything.
Developing and implementing a philosophy of excellence can and will have a profound impact on every aspect of your life. When you live from the perspective that everything that I do, I do with excellence, you move to a new station in life. No longer will "good enough" be in your vocabulary.
Relationships change. Your career changes. Your parenting changes. Your results in the gym change.
In your work life, excellence looks like consistently working towards being a master of your craft or trade. At home, excellence looks like exceeding the needs of your spouse and building them up. In the community, excellence looks like a volunteer that works had to provide the best opportunity or experience for her community members. And in your workouts, excellence looks like keeping the bar close on your deadlifts or maintaing active shoulders during your overhead squat.
A life philosophy of excellence permeates every aspect of a winner's being. Not that this person has to consistently win in competition with others, but that he is always competing with himself to get better at whatever task is put before him.
Look around at the people you hang with. If you maintain a life philosophy of excellence, chances are the life you are creating will be that much more...excellent. Be excellent. How you do anything, is how you do everything.
No comments:
Post a Comment