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Ambitious modern women like us want an extraordinary life. We don’t merely want to be good; we want to achieve excellence!
Yet, at the same time, excellence is such a daunting term that most people are scared of even considering going after it.
But as you surely know at this point, to live a life others can’t live, you have to do what others won’t do.
This can be your starting point on this journey. So read along and have a successful trip!
Read also: 11 Rules Of Success From Spencer Hastings Of PLL
1. Set the goal of excellence
As sad as it is, most people around us are very content, just doing what’s necessary and at merely a good quality.
They shudder at the thought of putting in more work than necessary and shake their head at people who work longer hours unpaid or spend their time and money on personal development.
This can truly make us modern and ambitious women feel like the odd one out in our social circle.
Whenever that happens, it’s helpful to remember that precisely this is why there is always that upper 1% of people who have more success and a more exciting life than the other 99%.
I believe we all know to which group we want to belong, so we have to set the goal to achieve excellence in as many things as possible.
And make it a real goal. Not merely a would-be-nice-to-have possibility.
2. Get started
The first obstacle for most people to achieve excellence is to get started.
As ridiculous as it sounds, many people don’t even give it a shot and simply stay stuck in the wishful thinking phase.
Don’t fall into this trap! I always encourage dreaming a lot and dreaming lavishly. However, you can’t stop at that.
You need to get started. In any way you can.
I know many people tend to overthink these things. We want to have this perfect plan laid out for us to start at this ideal time.
But truth be told, it is much more useful to start taking messy inspired action right off the bat.
Messy precisely because you don’t have a perfectly detailed plan laid out, and you are still very much clueless about what you need to do.
Inspired because you do the things you feel drawn to. If you are out of nowhere suddenly motivated and excited to change your study routine or to watch this one specific study tips video on YouTube, go and do that!
There is a reason this feels right for you to do, and you are going to make your life a lot easier if you start acting on those inexplainable spontaneous impulses. They often lead to great things that would otherwise have been buried under overthinking.
So just get started. Start with what you have and what you know at this moment. Start now!
3. Study the masters in your field
Success leaves clues, that much is clear for us modern women. So the logical course of action would be to find and examine those clues.
Take a look at people in your field than are performing at a level of excellence and find out what they are doing differently than you and how they go there.
If you want to improve your studying, look for tips on how to study effectively or even go and purchase a renowned course like the Kwik Student course.
There are many options to learn from masters in your field. Take advantage of at least one of them.
4. Do it for progress, not perfection
“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”
―Vince Lombardi
Yes, I know you want to achieve excellence. That’s what this whole post is about.
However, I genuinely believe that everybody who’s ever achieved excellence was enjoying the journey immensely.
If you enjoy the journey with every fiber of your being and if every little progress makes your soul light up, you barely care how long it will take you to reach excellence.
Why would it? You love where you’re at right now!
And that’s why you spend so much time doing what you love without beating yourself up about not being excellent enough yet.
People who are only in it for excellence without really liking the skill or activity in itself will never put as much time or passion into it.
And hence they won’t improve as much.
Also, passion for the journey makes you creative and resourceful. Out of nowhere, you come up with a new way to do something. Simply because you think about your new passion project day in and day out.
If you want to reach excellence, you can’t do it with desperation. You have to release it and focus on enjoying where you’re at right now.
5. Create an excellent Alter Ego
This tip is based on the fantastic book The Alter Ego Effect by Todd Hermann – I highly recommend you check it out!
Do you remember when you were a child, and you would imagine being Batman or a princess or any other hero of yours?
As soon as you slipped into the role, your behavior and mindset changed almost effortlessly into that of the character.
This Alter Ego Effect can be replicated for any field of play in daily life. Say you want to be an exceptionally intelligent A-student.
Who comes to your mind first when you think of people like this? It doesn’t matter whether it’s a fictional or real-life person, but it should be someone that you feel strong and positive emotions towards.
For me, I thought of Arthur (Inception), Spencer Hastings (Pretty Little Liars), and Lydia Martin (Teen Wolf).
So, now, every time I study or write an exam, I imagine I am these three people combined and have their focus, precision, confidence, and competence.
To slip easier into the role, I have a pair of glasses as my totem – just like many superheroes change their outfit when they switch characters.
Once I put on the glasses, I imagine I will rock this study session or exam just like Arthur, Spencer and Lydia would.
There have been done multiple studies that prove this effect works, and that’s also why many successful people, especially but not exclusively athletes, have Alter Egos to rely on.
So read the book and build one for yourself!
Read also: Reading List For Personal Growth
6. Make it part of your daily routine
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
― Aristotle
Excellence is not achieved overnight. Some people believe it takes 10.000 hours of practice to become a master at something.
Personally, I don’t think there is a set time limit. For some people, it takes longer for others, not quite as long.
In whichever group you fall, the more practice you have, the better.
And one of the best ways to gain many practice hours at something is by making it a daily habit.
Find a time of the day or, better, an activity you already have in your daily routine, where the new skill you want to become excellent at seamlessly fits in.
You don’t even need to make it a one-hour practice session. Even five minutes repeated daily will go a long way.
And if it is already a daily habit of yours, for example, studying for your degree, then set the intention of excellence before starting.
If you add the aim for excellence to your daily habit, you can pat yourself on the back and be sure to see vast improvements within a few weeks and months.
Read also: 16 Habits Of Successful Women
7. Focus on the details
The devil lies in the detail, as they say.
I’m sure you’ve heard of the 80/20 rule that can be applied to seemingly all areas of life.
For example, you walk over 20% of the floor in your house 80% of the time.
This means you should find out what 20% of tasks get 80% of the results and focus your work or studying on these tasks.
Now, following this rule will bring you great results – great … but not excellent!
Excellence requires you to master those last 20%, which take the most effort to learn.
Just keep that in mind before you dismiss small, seemingly unimportant details all too quickly.
You don’t need to focus on them before you know the basics, but once you have reached a good grasp of the subject matter, you should focus on those details that will make you exceptional.
8. Challenge yourself
If it gets easy, it’s a sure sign you should raise the bar a bit. Excellence is not achieved by staying comfortable under your fuzzy blanket with a cup of hot cocoa in your hands.
Just like you don’t build muscle, if you lift light weights in the gym, you won’t achieve excellence without pushing yourself.
Try to always keep an eye out for when things start to feel too comfortable. At the same time, don’t overwhelm yourself.
It takes practice to find a middle way in all of this, but once you find it, you should never let go of it.
9. Analyze your performance and celebrate your progress
To achieve excellence, one must always be aware of the path their currently on.
Most people don’t keep track of their progress towards specific goals. That’s one of the reasons New Year’s Resolutions so rarely get accomplished.
You must always be aware of whether or not and in which way you have improved yourself.
If you realize what works, you can do more of it and less of the things that do not work.
Also, keeping track of your improvements makes you aware of them. This enables you to celebrate each tiny step forward.
Treating yourself for your accomplishments not only keeps you motivated and happy, but it also evokes gratitude, which is a sorely lacking emotion these days yet the foundation of a happy life.
10. Always look for one more thing to improve
“Excellence is the unlimited ability to improve the quality of what you have to offer.”
―Rick Pitino
One failproof way to end up being excellent at something is to never stop improving that skill.
You might have been studying since you were 8 years old, but does that mean there is no better way to do it? No!
Go out there and learn how you could improve your study strategy just that little bit.
There is indeed always something more to learn in every subject. And as long as you don’t give up the pursuit of learning more, you can be sure to get closer and closer to excellence.
11. Believe you can achieve excellence
And lastly, you need to believe that you can achieve excellence in every field you commit to.
Often this can be the most challenging part, but it is possibly also the most rewarding.
If your mindset doesn’t match your goals, there will always be a glass ceiling that you can’t get past.
I know that it may seem like excellence is just something others achieve, but not you. After all, so far, it has never been you, so why should that change?
Well, it is going to change because this time, you are truly committing to the goal.
There is nothing others have – besides more practice at the skill of choice -, that you do not have.
So start telling yourself daily that you are born to be excellent. Journal about it. Repeat affirmations in your head every time doubt overcomes you.
And most importantly, focus on each tiny step you’ve taken closer to being excellent.
Sometimes your brain needs physical proof before it truly lets itself believe something. So make sure you create that proof.
I hope these 11 tips are motivating you to get started on your journey of excellence.
Do you have a particular skill you want to be excellent at? Or do you wish to simply be an excellent modern woman all around?
Comment down below! As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Until next time!
Sophie
