Excellence Is Submission
Excellence is upside down
There is a little known but powerful principle I don't want you to lose sight of. If you don't capture this, all your efforts at becoming the fullest expression of your unique, God-given design will be off.
The minute you learn something, you are in danger of what is called the "curse of knowledge". Unless you repel it, this curse will lead you down a road of artificial royalty (the erroneous assumption that you are the thought leader). You will become certain about this knowledge to such a degree that you become closed to any other considerations on the matter. And that stunts your growth.
It can also be destructive if you're not careful. There is an urban legend about an encounter a battle ship captain had with another ship (or so he thought):
His battle ship was on exercise at sea in bad weather. He was on the bridge. It was foggy. Just after dark the look out spotted a light on the starboard side. The captain asked if it was steady or moving. The look out replied the light was steady meaning they were on direct collision course with that ship! The captain ordered the lookout signal to the other ship:
“Change course 20 degrees. We are on collision course.”
The signal came back ‘”Advisable for you to change course.”
The captain signaled ‘”I am a captain. Change course 20 degrees.”
“I am a seaman second class. You had better change course 20 degrees” came the reply.
The captain was furious. He sent back ‘”I am a battleship. Change course!”
Back came the signal, “I am a lighthouse. Your call.”
BECOME A STUDENT
The key to repelling this curse is not what you would normally think. It involves submission. It involves adopting the posture of a student. This is the the action of accepting or yielding to a superior force or to the will or authority of another person. You acknowledge you are not an expert. Even though you can have certainty, you can still keep the door cracked for more information.
Susanna Newsonen writes about being a student of life in her blog post (CLICK HERE TO READ). She lists 7 benefits:
- Be open minded. An open, positive mindset improves your overall happiness.
- Learn something new everyday. Cherish all the different aspects of life that exist.
- Do something you’re afraid of. Courage gives you a real high and positive confidence for the future.
- Stay hungry for more. Set ambitious goals. You’re happiest when you’re growing.
- Take things lightly. When you take things less seriously, you’re much more bound to have fun.
- Remain curious. Always. You’ll find you’ll discover a whole new, exciting world behind curiosity.
- Reflect on what’s happening in your life. Knowing how you feel helps you make future decisions that will boost your happiness.
ACTION STEP
- Take the hardest item from the list of 7 above that is the hardest for you to start doing
- Commit to doing it for 7 days
- At the end of the 7 days, write in a journal what you learned about yourself and your world
- Incorporate that learning into your journey of excellence
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