9 Concepts For The Pursuit of Excellence

Austin
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9 Concepts For The Pursuit of Excellence

I’m sure you’re wondering “What is the pursuit of excellence and why should I care?”. The pursuit of excellence has different results for everyone but the process of achieving excellence are the same.

The pursuit of excellence is the idea that you can always keep moving towards your ideal image of yourself. The end goal is to become successful. I’m an advocate for everyone creating their own version of success so what I think is successful may not be what you believe is successful.

On the journey to your own success you will learn many things and get to experience more of life than if you sit tight and hope everything falls in place. You are the driver of the car that is your life, you get to make the decisions of where you go.

Pursuing excellence is the way to achieve the things you dream of having. If you spend the time learning how to take the next step in life, someday you will have walked to your goals.

Now that we have what the pursuit of excellence is on our mind, let’s take a look at 9 concepts that will help you get started on your pursuit of excellence.

1. Find What Gives You Motivation And Leverage It

When you trying to find your motivator you will need to ask two questions. What is my one thing that motivates me to do everything?  The second question is why is this one things so important to me? Your one thing and your why should give you an emotional response when you think about it. My one thing is my family. I do everything so that my family can live a better life, so that they don’t have to live through the hardships that I did. If you don’t feel an emotional connection with you motivator dig deeper and find something that drives you towards excellence.

2. Make Big Goals That Can Be Broken Down

A big goal can seem impossible to reach. The best thing you can do for yourself is to make your goal bigger than you think you can ever achieve. Once you have your BIG goal break it down into manageable piece. If you can break your goal down to what you can do today, this week, this month, this year, or in 5 years. You will be able to achieve parts of your goals making the big goal not seem as bad. If your goal is 10 time bigger than you planned and you reach 10 percent, you reached your original goal.

3. Create a Vision Board

A vision board can tie together your why with your goal. You should create a vision board and hang it somewhere that you will see everyday. Your vision board should include your big thing and your why. Use words and pictures that excite you and give you inspiration. As your goals evolve add to your vision board.

4. Track Your Progress

One of the hardest parts of pursuing excellence is keeping on track and moving towards your goal. Finding a way to keep track of your progress will help you see that you are moving in the right direction. When you feel good about your progress it will be easier to keep moving forward.

5. Find a Mentor to Guide You

A mentor is someone that has already achieved what you want. If you find someone that is ready to teach you what they’ve learned they can kick your progress into high gear. Your mentor will have already made more mistakes and learned more than you can imagine. Take their advice and you will improve faster than you thought possible.

6. Tell The People Around You

The people you spend most of your time with have a huge influence on your life. If you tell them what you are doing and they are supportive stick with them. If they question why you want more for yourself find new people that will support you.  The higher the achievers you spend time with the more their personalities will be ingrained in yours and you will achieve more.

7. Be Confident in Your Choices

Confidence is a huge factor in the way the world sees you. Make sure that you always are firm with your decisions, your whys and you goals. Once you move forward don’t look back and question why you didn’t make a different choice. Own what you have and work with it.

8. Keep Learning When You’re Passionate

Your passion is the most important thing for your dream. If you love working on cars, doing math, creating website, or working with money, never stop learning about it. If you keep learning you will one day become an expert in your field. That is one example of excellence and success.  Never stop learning.

9. Never Give Up

Giving up is the best way to achieve failure. Never give up on yourself. You may have to change paths or look at things from a different perspective but never give up. With enough trial and error, someday you will achieve everything you’ve ever wanted.

I’ve decided to dedicate my life to helping others improve theirs. If you want to be part of helping others pursue excellence and become successful in their own way, sign up for our email updates so you can be part of the movement towards a better life.

Why You Need An Accountability Partner

Austin
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1
Why You Need An Accountability Partner

Accountability Partners as a Strategic Success Tool

Have you ever started something but didn’t finish? Or worse yet you said you were going to do something but never even got started? Don’t worry you’re not alone. When it comes to getting stuff done getting started is the hardest part and keeping it going is a close second. That’s where accountability partners and groups come in to help you succeed.

Accountability partners and groups are people that get together that have a similar common goal. One example would be a book club. They have a common goal of finishing and discussing a book (or maybe a few). These partners and groups are important to success because they keep you accountable for the things you say and do. Think about this, how hard is it going to be to tell you group of friends you didn’t’ do something? Pretty hard, especially if you know they stayed accountable for the same task. It’s kind of like peer pressure except your peers are convincing you to improve your life!

Now you may be thinking this concept sounds pretty cool but you have one big question, “How do I even find an accountability partner or group?”  The answer is there are a few different ways to get involved.

3 Ways to Find Accountability Partners or Groups 

Local Groups

Local GroupsNetworking is going to be a big part of meeting people and being part of an accountability group. You can find local groups through your hobbies or other interests. If you want to be part of Toastmasters find a local group and join. If you want to be around more people that like RC cars or planes go to a local hobby shop and ask around. There are thousands of people meeting everyday you just need to get out and find them. If you are having trouble with finding groups the next two ways of getting into a group are for you!

Create Your Own 

Creating your own group may not be the easiest way to go about this but it’s definitely the most rewarding. There are a few things that need to be done to create your own group. One is finding a place to meet. A simple solution is finding a park, a Starbucks, or someone’s house that is easily accessible.

Next you want to find a few like minded people to come together and create a group. Ideally you can find these people through your network. If you don’t have a network yet starting with an online group or a local meetup may be easier. Depending on your goals you can decide the main focus of the group (a book club reads books).

Next pick a time and date and be consistent. The third Monday or second Thursday of a month are great examples. This is something you want the entire group to agree on. At a later date you can work as a group to change the date but to start pick something that is easy to remember.

Online

OnlineThere are an abundance for online groups that can be joined. Some of these groups only meet online while others just use the internet as a way to market themselves. Depending on your personality either option will work. You can find these groups through social media like Facebook or apps like MeetUp. Check into if the groups are only online or if they meet in person before you join, it wouldn’t be fun to join a group just to find out that you don’t even live where they meet.

Now What Do We Do?

One you have a group you’re going to want something to do. There are a few options out there. You’ll notice that most groups have a structure that is consistent with each meeting. You don’t to show up to a book club and spend the entire time talking about something unrelated like sports or video games. That’s why it is important for an accountability group or partnership to have a structure.

Regular Meetings

The idea of regular meetings is going to be the easiest option for everyone involved. The group can pick a time and location for the meeting. Once this is set it should not be changed unless the group is better off changing time and locations at a future date.

The next thing the group will want to figure out is a schedule for the meeting. A good way to do that is to have a short period of time at the beginning for catching up as everyone rolls in. After everyone has arrived it’s time to get serious. Depending on your group you may want to do 10 to 20 minute time slots for everyone to talk about what they did do, didn’t do, and what they want to improve on. If your group has presentations this would be the time to do that. If these two ideas don’t sound right for your group then it’s time to discuss with them what will work best.

At the end of these meetings everyone should have had a chance to talk and make goals for the future. These goals can be as individuals or as a group. It’s up to you to decide what will work best for you.

Group Events

Group EventsGroup events are as formal or informal as you want them to be. These kind of events can be anything from team building to a guys or girls night out. This is the time when your group is creating a bond that will make you feel the need to stay accountable.

One of favorites group events for the groups I’ve been involved with were local sports games. It works out well because they are relatively cheap compared to professional games and almost everyone can have fun. If your group isn’t into sports it may be possible to find trade shows or conventions that interest the team. Remember this is about bonding with the group so find something that the group can enjoy.

Classes

Education is important for becoming successful and part of an accountability group or partner is helping everyone achieve more. One of the best ways to improve the group is through taking classes. This doesn’t have to be through a college or anything formal. If you or your group members see a seminar or class on a topic related to the group everyone has a chance to learn. Keep on the lookout for local events that are related to what you and your group want to achieve. A local personal finance seminar can push a personal finance accountability group to the next level.

Any time you take a class make sure to take notes and share it with the group. If multiple people in the group want to learn the same thing it can turn into more of a group event and it will make learning more fun. Remember this is about education and helping yourself and the group. Learning is one of the foundations of success so help your group learn!

Accountability On Your Own

Make a PlanThe groups or partners may make accountability easier but you still have to make sure you are accountable to yourself. This means that between meetings it’s important to stay on the right track. It may be hard to stay accountable when you aren’t checking in with your group or partners regularly but here are a few ways to do it.

  1. Use a daily journal to write down your daily, weekly, monthly, and long term goals.
  2. Create a “To do list” of all the most important activities. The more important the task is the higher it is on the list. Don’t skip tasks for something easier.
  3. Look at the end result you want and create a plan from end to beginning. This is your roadmap to success. Make adjustments as needed.
  4. Create a unique habit that helps you achieve your goals and stay accountable to yourself.

Everyone is different so try new things and experiment. If something works out well for you bring it to the group’s attention. It’s never a bad thing to help yourself and the group at the same time. Your group members may even start using your accountability tricks to improve themselves outside of the group.

Achieve More Through Accountability

It may not seem like it at first but accountability is a big part in becoming successful. You never know when something you are working on could change your life. It is important to surround yourself with people that also want you to succeed. Bringing those kinds of people so that everyone has a chance to achieve more. The more accountable you are for your actions the better. If you can bring people together with a common goal it makes it even easier.

Don’t forget that one of the best ways to achieve success is to create a culture of accountability around you. Share your ideas and goals with friends and family. Find new people to spend time with that want to achieve more just like you do. If you think that someone you know would benefit from learning more about accountability share these ideas with them. Help others join our community of people that believe everyone can achieve more!

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