How I Do Anything is How I Do Everything

I first heard this phrase from a mentor of mine a few years ago and it made me rethink my whole approach to the way I was living my life.

I used to be a someone who would complete a task to 80% of my ability and then stop when I thought it was good enough. (Refer to my post last week about good being the enemy of the great) What I couldn’t see at the time was that by cutting corners on the small things and not doing them to the best of my ability, I had developed a habit of laziness and mediocrity.

Over time this habit crept into the more important areas of my life. In fact, I found myself right back in this pattern recently when it came to my health. One minor setback and slowly over time my really good habits that I had spent years developing started to unravel. Where I used to hold myself to a really high standard, all of a sudden my mediocre effort was “good enough”

Hard lesson: if you accept mediocrity in one area, you start to accept in other areas. The only cure I’ve found is for it to not be an option. At all. If you don’t accept it, it can’t be a part of your life.

The fastest way to become successful is to commit to excellence in everything you do. From cleaning the house to major tasks in your career. And once you develop the habit of excellence, success is going to follow.

Start paying attention to the way you do the small things in your life. You may surprise yourself at just how much more you are capable of.