Our generation, the millennials, are very fortunate. We have such a large platform to grow and succeed. We’ve been taught how to navigate the education system from a young age and have mastered it, so that the standard of education has increased immensely. However, this trend becomes problematic for us.
By the end of high school, most of us have become comfortable with one of our two natural instincts: procrastination and perfectionism. Perfectionism stems from our need to avoid imperfection and failure at all costs and our fear of how others will judge our outcome. This causes stress, unrest and unhealthy habits. Procrastination comes from our want to avoid a situation and sense of motivation and fear at the last minute.
When it comes to goals or tasks we are faced with, we're all motivated by three pillars - the cost or importance of the situation, our perception of how other people evaluate our outcome and the uncertainty or risk that comes with these goals. This all points to the root of our problem: the fear of failure.
There is a significant difference between fear-based excellence and authentic excellence.
Fear-based excellence comes from our fear of the uncontrollable. Whether we act out of perfectionism or procrastination, we're really acting based on our expectation of the environment surrounding our actions and not our actions themselves. We act based on how people will perceive or judge our actions or based on comparisons to other people.
This is not a very healthy way to live out our lives. Why? Because when we function out of perfectionism and procrastination, we tend to plateau at just good.
We never reach a standard of excellence. The slope of our success drops to zero because we're no longer pushing ourselves to grow wiser. We get into a cycle of judging ourselves and each other on an assignment by assignment measurement of our successes.
We never reach our full potential because, whether or not we are reaching our goals, we are motivated out of fear. The fear of vulnerability, fear of risk-taking, fear of mold-breaking and fear of individuality.
The way to achieve authentic excellence is by looking at what you value. What you value in life greatly impacts what you hope to achieve and how you go about achieving it. A lot of the time, we compromise our values to achieve a goal that may not be worth achieving.
When you live out your days building on those values, you're setting yourself up to succeed. You’ll be able to determine what you should spend your time doing, not necessarily what you “need” to spend your time doing.
If you wake up every morning and go about your day with the intent of achieving goals that connect back to your values, you will succeed. If at the end of the day you have actively built onto your values, you were successfully achieving excellence. If people praise your achievements, celebrate that. Enjoy your success with those who appreciate it.
If people react negatively to your actions, and you were acting on your values, you're still successful. Listen to people, and see if there is anything you can take from or learn from to enhance your experiences.
Nonetheless, grow in your values. Take your experiences and grow in wisdom. Actively strive to achieve what is important to you.
True success is action based, not fear based.
Remind yourself what you value. Then you will achieve authentic excellence.
Inspired by Dr. Kelly Crace, Ph.D., Authentic Excellence Initiative
