The Hero Test
What if all of your heroes and role models arrived at your house today and looked at every area of your life?
Would you be delighted with what they found, or would you be embarrassed?
The great thing about role models and heroes is that we aspire to be more like them, and that in itself makes us want to be more and achieve more.
Asking myself this question, I thought about some of the areas of my life that I would want to hide from my heroes. Nothing terrible, just things I know I could do much better.
That also got me thinking about what standard I should try to achieve. I remember reading once that we should always strive for excellence but not for perfection. The reason is simple, perfection is almost always unattainable and if we strive for perfection itself it will take a disproportionate amount of time and energy. Here is a practical example:
I recorded over 70 videos for my website www.LifestyleBook.com. They took me about 200 hours to write, prepare for, record, re-record, edit etc. I strove for excellence. However if I had been happy only with perfection, it would have taken me more like 1,000 hours and yes they would have been better, but still not perfect. And just like you, I don’t have an extra 800 hours just sitting around waiting for me to fill them up.
Conclusion:
1. It is a fantastic exercise to stop for five minutes and imagine all of your heroes (and heroines) and role models coming to your house today and looking at every area of your life:
- your health;
- your fitness;
- your wealth;
- your relationships;
- your career;
- the state of your house and your office;
- the state of your spiritual life;
- how much giving, serving and contributing you are doing for others;
- and so on.How would you feel? Delighted or embarrassed?
2. Strive for Excellence in everything you do.
NEVER settle for mediocrity, that is the worst state of all.
But also do not drive yourself to achieve perfection. It is not an efficient use of your time.