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Practical Excellence

Scott Couchenour • January 5, 2021

Being excellent means being yourself.

I'm toying with an adjustment with this blog. In November of 2020, I felt it would be wise to commit to writing a blog post every day for a year. Sounded good at the time. My aim was to force myself to flesh out the particulars of a book I had in my mind that was all about the art of excellence. Except for a day or two missed, I was able to keep to the commitment for over 2 months now.


But as I continue, I learn more about the best use of time. I want to help as many people as I can with my experiences, successes, and failures. I ultimately want to serve a couple dozen clients over a lifetime. That's my aim and that's the reason I wanted to write that book - to be a sort of platform for discussions with you, my reader, and, if I am fortunate enough, you my client.


I'm not saying I'll stop blogging. I'm just thinking about how it all fits into the overall picture.

The thoughts above the line are an example of authenticity. I'm processing what's in my mind to show you what real excellence can look like. It will be different for you, but here are the main points I want to get across to you.


ELEMENTS OF PRACTICAL EXCELLENCE


  1. Be willing to abandon old ideas. Life is not static. If you aren't dynamic, you'll get run over by the next great idea
  2. Be courageous to keep what's working. Remember, don't abandon for the sake of abandonment. If it's working, keep doing it
  3. Be disciplined enough to test what's working. Even if something is working, it doesn't mean it's the best thing to be doing. It may be the proverbial "good in the way of great."




ACTION STEP


  • List everything you're doing.
  • Evaluate what things are hold-outs of old ideas and which are working.
  • Stop the old ideas
  • Test what's working



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