I think that I've always grown up with pretty high standards. That might be the result of me having my ego fed by having some good results in several circumstances in my early life, or it's just the way I'm built. Whatever the reason might be, I've been thinking a lot about what drives me to do better in life each and every day.
I was listening to the radio the other day and I heard a few fantastic things that really hit home for me. This leader of a specific team talked about some of the things that can take the team to the next level - from okay to good, good to great, etc. The one thing he talked about was eliminating the "just abouts." What he said was that in order for his team to get to that next level, they need to focus in and turn the just abouts into things that they actually execute. In very plain terms, it is going from saying "I just about finished my homework on time," to "I finished my homework on time." The two statements are exactly the same except for the two words "just" and "about."
For me, it's actually the driving force that helps me set the bar higher and higher. It is probably most evident in my ability to catch onto and learn music. I practiced scales for hours during my years of piano. If I played a scale that was just about flawless, my teacher would tell me to do it again, except to play it flawlessly. Then, if in one practice session I played the same scale ten times, and just about all 10 runs were flawless, my next goal was to make sure that it was completely flawless. Being able to find your mistakes one by one and eliminating them is ultimately what gets you to the top. This isn't easy though, because it requires you to be brutally honest with yourself in knowing where your mistakes are and how to correct them. Sometimes, and I include myself on this, it's really difficult for people to admit mistake on something.
Eliminating the "just abouts" in life can help us become much better at what we do. Each person will probaby have their own way of going about doing that, but the goal is still to get rid of them.
The other part of this is a statement I remember hearing about by Glen Sather, former coach and general manager of the Edmonton Oilers. What he said to the Oilers team with Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Anderson, Coffey, etc., was that they were not there to just make the playoffs, they were there to win the Stanley Cup. It shows to me that it doesn't matter where you are in your current condition, whether you're already in good stride or just beginning, the end goal is to win; and if that is not what you are there for, then you are probably going to be off the team really quick. And I don't even have to go into what happened in the next several years for that Oilers team.
What I'm getting at is that, combined with that (I'd probably call it an) obssession over the details in helping you find all the little mistakes and eliminating them one by one, along with the mindset that anything short of the best is unacceptable, that is what's gotten me to where I am today with regards to anything that I've done successfully. This of course, has completely neglected the "God" factor so far. But if you really want to bring God into this, this is what I pray to God about: the ability to be real with myself and with God; and with his power, to strive for nothing but the best because God deserves my best, as I am his child. It's okay to be disappointed or upset about things, but there's no point in sulking over them. Let that be the motivation in what makes you take that next step in fixing the imperfections that exist. I really feel that people can do more than they believe they can, and that they often just need the right push. We can say that we overestimate ourselves, but on the same token, we underestimate ourselves just as much.
This is what has driven me to be able to do all the things that I am able to do. And I'm not finished. I always have to be reminded that I have chosen to have this kind of attitude amidst all the other things that fly my way. And though I will and do stumble on occasion, I have made a promise to myself that I will get back up each time and continue on all the work that I have put in. If I am okay with offering up anything less than the best, I might as well not waste my time and not do it at all.
You can be the judge as to what I've actually done in life. If anything stands out, you know why it has. It wasn't my goal to brag about myself, and if that's what this has seemed to come across as, I'm sorry. I just wanted to try to give shape and form to somethings I have and will continue to need to answer as I begin a transition into ministry.
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