Online Reporter
Hunt For Greatness
Milton Kamwendo
AVERAGE is comfortable. It has many neighbours and friends. Average is acceptable.
Average is everywhere. Average is as common as common salt.
That is precisely the problem.
The world is changing. Expectations are rising. Competition is intensifying. As a result, average is no longer neutral. Average is lethal. Average is highly infectious.
Average is dangerous. Average quietly limits potential. Average dilutes impact. Average erodes distinction. You do not have to stretch to become average.
Excellence is work. Excellence is intentional. It is disciplined. It is demanding. It requires a decision.
Excellence refuses to settle. It is a commitment to go beyond what is easy. Excellence is a determination to deliver at a higher standard.
Strengthen your excellence by declaring war on average.
The trap of average
Average does not announce itself as a failure.
It is clever and deceptive. It appears as “Good enough”, “That will do”, “At least it’s done!”
These small compromises accumulate over time. They shape habits. They define standards. They create identity. They colonise communities and organisations. Average is addictive.
Jim Collins, in his book “Good to Great”, says good is the enemy of great.
Indeed, the average is the enemy of excellence.
Collins says: “Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don’t have great schools, principally because we have good schools.
“We do not have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life.
“The vast majority of companies never become great, precisely because the vast majority become quite good — and that is their main problem.”
The danger of average is not a dramatic collapse.
It is a gradual settling. People do not wake up and choose mediocrity. They drift into it by lowering standards one decision at a time. Excellence begins by recognising and catching this drift.
And then choosing differently.
Strengthening excellence is a choice, not an event
Excellence is not a resort. It is not an event. Many people treat excellence as something occasional.
They reserve excellence for important moments, big opportunities, interviews or public visibility.
Excellence is not an event. It is a standard. It shows up in all that you do: How you prepare.
How you execute. How you follow through. How you handle small details.
The way you do the small things is the way you will do the big things.
Excellence is not a plug. Excellence is not switched on when needed. Excellence is strengthened daily.
Thought venue
Excellence begins in the mind. Average thinking accepts limits like: “This is enough”, “This is how it has always been done”, “This is all I can do”.
Excellent thinking challenges the logic: “How can this be better?” “What is the highest standard here?” “What would great look like?”
The questions you ask shape the results you produce. Raise your thinking and you put up with it.
The mind is the first venue of excellence.
Demanding discipline.
There is nothing casual about excellence. It requires preparation when others relax. Excellence calls for attention to detail when others overlook it.
It summons persistence when others stop. Excellence demands consistency when others fluctuate.
Discipline bridges the gap between intention and performance.
Without discipline, excellence remains an idea. With discipline, it becomes reality.
Strengthen excellence through focus, discipline and endurance.
Average ignores details.
Excellence is obsessed with them.
The difference between good and great is in precision, timing, clarity and finishing. Details communicate care. They signal professionalism. They build trust.
People may not always notice every detail, but they always feel the difference.
Personal choice strengthens excellence through intentionality. External conditions do not determine excellence. Internal standards do.
You choose excellence in little steps. A small assignment. A routine task. A simple interaction.
Excellence is not dependent on recognition. It is driven by identity.
When you see yourself as a person of excellence, your behaviour aligns with that belief.
Beyond choice
Excellence is strengthened by doing more than what is required.
This is not just for applause. It is for growth and integrity. This may mean you put in the “extra” margin.
You revise work beyond the minimum. You prepare beyond expectations. You deliver beyond the minimum requirements.
Going beyond builds capacity. It stretches your ability and strengthens your confidence. Average stops at the requirement. Excellence continues beyond it. Excellence endures.
Repeat for reputation
Your reputation is built on repeated performance. Consistent excellence strengthens trust. People begin to associate your name with quality, reliability and professionalism.
Over time, opportunities follow those who deliver consistently. Average performance creates uncertainty. Excellent performance creates demand.
Average thrives on excuses: “I didn’t have enough time”, “The conditions were difficult”, “Others were not cooperating”.
Excellence acknowledges challenges but focuses on solutions. Excellence is strengthened by questions. It asks: “What can I still do?” “How can I improve this?”
Excuses protect comfort.
Excellence pursues progress.
Time advantage
Make excellence your superpower. In the short term, the average may seem sufficient.
In the long term, it limits growth.
Excellence compounds. Skills improve. Confidence grows. Opportunities increase. Influence expands. Over time, the gap between average and excellent grows and shows.
Excellence goes beyond today. Excellence is about building a future.
Excellence is valuable but it is not cheap. Excellence is not easy. It requires effort, time, focus and sacrifice.
The cost of the average is higher. Average limits potential. It reduces opportunities. It weakens impact. You will pay a price either way. Choose the one that strengthens you.
Default setting
Excellence is not reserved for the gifted. It is available to the focused and committed. Strengthen your excellence by raising your standards. Sharpen your discipline.
Reject mediocrity vehemently in all its subtle forms and manifestations.
Go on the offensive. Strengthen your excellence.
Refuse to settle. Raise your standard. Attack average in your thinking. Attack average in your strategy. Attack average in your execution.
The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is not just ability. It is standard. Make excellence your default setting.
One sage once remarked: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author and accomplished workshop facilitator. He can be reached at: [email protected], WhatsApp: +263772422634
