PERSONAL EXCELLENCE SPECIAL................. Eight steps to excellence

Eight steps to excellence

Grab the moment, and live up to it. You have to lead by example

The wheel of fortune will only turn the way we want it to if we we take control and drive the wheel of excellence. The eight spokes in the wheel of excellence are  • target orientation • commitment •constant learning • positive images • confidence • focus (or distraction) control • keeping the right company  • taking action Shah Rukh Khan, in the film Om Shanti Om, is a personification of the eight components of excellence. He recovered from a back surgery and worked towards getting six pack abs. “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavour,” said Vincent ‘Vince’ Lombardi, legendary American football coach. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit,” said the philosopher Aristotle. “When my play started providing me with rewards, I wanted to prove I deserved them. I never felt the desire to rest on what I had accomplished. I never felt like I deserved to drive a Bentley when I got my first contract, or live in a mansion. Those things might be symbols of success to some people, but there are a lot of people who confuse symbols with actual success,” said basketball champion Michael Jordan. “Nothing of value comes when you don’t earn it. That’s why great leaders are those who lead by example. You can’t demand respect because of a title or a position and expect people to follow you. That might work for a while, but in the long run, people respond to what they see. ... If the CEO skips out early on Friday, he’s sent a message that tells every one else they can do the same. I practiced hard every day because I wanted every one of my teammates to know what I expected out of myself. If I took the day off, then I knew they would too,” Jordan says in his book Driven From Within. Have you noticed that the last six letters in the word satisfaction are a-c-t-i-o-n? In Latin, the word ‘satis’ means ‘enough’. It is only action that will lead to satisfaction. Reach for your best: you are the only person who has sole custody of your life — get up and intensify your actions. Vijay Batra is a wellness guru