Human excellence is not a byproduct of luck or something that a few selected people are just born with.
History is full of examples of people who made their own luck and who fought adversity, drastically improved themselves, and went on to do great things.
The good news is that if they did, then so can you.
What many of us do not realise is that we can accomplish things that we might think impossible.
We have everything we need to create and build something much bigger than ourselves. Each one of us can attain human excellence.
A big part of that, irrespective of the goal, is harnessing the ability to improve ourselves continually.
Only by mastering this can we expect greener pastures in life. So how exactly do we do it then?
We can attain human excellence by adopting three new habits.
Start waking up early
This is the advice that countless successful people, from business tycoons to great artists, often give in their autobiographies.
The original idea behind it is to wake up at a time when the rest of the world is asleep and therefore, unable to distract you from your goals.
You also benefit from the fact that early in the morning, your head is not full of distracting thoughts and problems that it might be ridden with later in the day.
By starting your day early, you get a head start over 99% of the world, creating a feel-good psychological factor that motivates you to stay ahead for the rest of the day.
Improve much faster
Your productivity increases and you instill in yourself a sense of self-discipline and mastery.
Whether it is going to the gym, learning how to code an app or writing the next great novel.
Waking up early will help you improve yourself much faster than you otherwise would.
Show self-kindness
There is a remarkable difference in how we treat others and how we treat ourselves.
We are always kind and polite when we talk to friends and colleagues, but when it comes to self-talk, we are terribly harsh.
Pay attention to how you speak to yourself, and you will be amazed by how true this is.
For example, when you skip a workout in the gym, your mind tortures you with your guilt-ridden self-talk.
When you make a mistake at work, you think about it for days on end.
If someone you know spoke to you like this, how long would you want to be their friend? Not long.
Inspiration in small victories
This is why it is essential to ease up on the critical self-talk, especially when you are in the early stages of trying to improve yourself.
A mark of human excellence is top be kind when you make an error and find inspiration in small victories.
Make small changes, take small steps
Rome was not built in a day, and if you are desperately looking for quick ways to human excellence, then you have to remember that such a process is usually a marathon and not a sprint.
This is why motivational speakers the world over recommend that you take small steps while you are making small changes.
So if you have three different goals that you want to accomplish over the next few months, then you are better off to insert them in your daily routine one after another than all three at once.
Overburdened
If you start working out, learning a new language and playing the guitar on the same day, then your mind will feel overburdened. As a result, it will invent new reasons to procrastinate.
If there is one thing that our minds hate, it is when we break old and bad habits and build new productive ones.
Taking small steps helps as well. Instead of working out for two hours, 7 days a week, try to keep it for one hour, 3 times a week.
Slowly and gradually increase this frequency until your mind proves to be of no resistance at all.
Towards human excellence
Be proud of yourself that you have decided to take steps to improve yourself.
Most of the people in this world go their whole lives without feeling any desire to do so. So just by deciding to take action, you have risen above the rest and are moving towards human excellence.
Take heed of the tips mentioned above and surround yourself with things and people that inspire you.
Keep an open mind, and a positive attitude and you will realise that improving yourself and achieving human excellence is all about the right state of mind that you can instill in yourself with the due practice of the principles mentioned above.
Related Articles:
How To Build Resilience, Your Competitive Advantage
Make Creativity Your Superpower
Build the Courage to Achieve Anything