Quotes About Excellence

Plenty of people are good at what you do. Very good at it. Perhaps as good at it as you are.

Average feels safe, but it's not. It's invisible. It's the last choice—the path of least resistance. The temptation to be average is just another kind of quitting…the kind to be avoided. You deserve better than average.

Excessively criticize the work of your peers, thus unrealistically raising the bar for your work.

It's easier to be mediocre than it is to confront reality and quit. Quitting is difficult. Quitting requires you to acknowledge that you're never going to be #1 in the world. At least not at this. So it's easier just to put it off, not admit it, settle for mediocre. What a waste.

If you want to be a superstar, then you need to find a field with a steep Dip—a barrier between those who try and those who succeed. And you've got to get through that Dip to the other side. This isn't for everyone. If it were, there'd be no superstars.

But wait, that's not enough. Not only do you need to find a Dip that you can conquer but you also need to quit all the Cul-de-Sacs that you're currently idling your way through. You must quit the projects and investments and endeavors that don't offer you the same opportunity. It's difficult, but it's vitally important.

Most of the time, if you fail to become the best in the world, it's either because you planned wrong or because you gave up before you reached your goal.

Attempt to create only one significant work a year.

good is bad, if bad means "not a profitable thing to aspire to." And perfect is bad, because you can't top perfect. The solution lies in seeking out something that is neither good nor perfect. You want something remarkable, nonlinear, game changing, and artistic.

Great bosses and world-class organizations hire motivated people, set high expectations, and give their people room to become remarkable. The

You don't have enough time to be both unhappy and mediocre. It's not just pointless, it's painful. Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you ought to set up a life you don't need to escape from.

Organizing around average means that the organization has exchanged the high productivity of exceptional performance for the ease and security of an endless parade of average performers.

Hugh MacLeod: "The web has made kicking ass easier to achieve, and mediocrity harder to sustain. Mediocrity now howls in protest.

Settling is no fun. It's a malignant habit, a slippery slope that takes you to mediocrity.

Stop settling for what's good enough and start creating art that matters

Quitting requires you to acknowledge that you're never going to be #1 in the world.

Organizing around the average, then, is too expensive. Organizing around average means that the organization has exchanged the high productivity of exceptional performance for the ease and security of an endless parade of average performers.

The wholesome pursuit of excellence feels quite different from perfectionism.

The quality of a man's life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his chosen field of endeavor.

In every person there is the capacity to do something really special.

Your life shouldn't be anything short of spectacular.

I treat every time I walk on the stage like it's the performance of my life.

All I ever wanted to do was be on stage, if possible acting in Shakespeare. And to be as good as I could be.

I want to have babies one day but not right now. When I do it I want to do it really well. I want it to be my best project in life.