No Easy Path to Excellence: Hard Work Ahead

No Easy Path to Excellence: Hard Work Ahead

?There is no easing into excellence. Although we’re each gifted with natural strengths, achieving excellence in those strengths takes effort — lots of it.

?Consider these examples:

?In Amazon’s early days, CEO Jeff Bezos , whose elementary school teachers labeled as “not particularly gifted in leadership,” logged 12-hour days — often until 3 a.m. — seven days a week to prepare books for shipment.

?The late NBA legend Kobe Bryant was the only professional player that his idol, superstar Michael Jordan, praised for sharing his brutal work ethic. Both players were known to spend hours upon hours at practice. Bryant would arrive for 7 a.m. practices two hours early; Jordan spent the off-season perfecting jump shots — making hundreds of them a day.

?From the time they were six and seven years old, tennis greats Serena and Venus Williams took to the court at 6 a.m. to practice before school and returned when classes let out for the day.

?Thirty-three years after she took a job inspecting car parts at GM, Mary Barra, widely known as the first to arrive for work and the last to leave, became the company’s CEO. Barra is the first woman to hold as high a leadership position in the auto industry.

?It Only Starts With Talent

?For these leaders, persistence clearly paid off; but you need not have the insane work regimen of a Michael Jordan or Mary Barra to succeed in whatever you pursue. Even Barra acknowledges that she also works hard to achieve balance between her personal and professional lives.

?All the same, no one stumbles into excellence. Your success may start with your natural strengths or talents, but that’s only the start. Those strengths must be developed, often in painstaking ways.

?Tough Stuff — But Worth It

?As you work toward achieving excellence in your professional or personal pursuits, keep in mind a few tough truths about the time and effort it will take to get there:?

1.?????You have to be willing to really work at it.

Your raw talents will only go as far as your commitment to refining them. You might be gifted with a Michael Jordan level of endurance, for instance, but you won’t realize the greatness of your natural athletic ability unless, with hard work and determination, you harness it within your muscle memory as he did. Your potential won’t become your reality unless you dedicate yourself to improvement — every day. Over time, discipline and focus will elevate your talent so much that it will take on its own muscle memory; it will become second nature to you.

2.????It could get tedious.

How do people master a skill? By doing it again and again and again. There’s a reason why the old adage, “practice makes perfect” stands the test of time. Beneath the mastery of any talent lies repetition. Keep your end-goal in sight as you power through the monotony.

3.?????There is no Plan B.

Achieving excellence requires a singular mindset. There is no safety net. Avoid the temptation of relying on a backup plan. It will only curb your motivation and stall your progress. Commit to your long-term success.

If you choose the path to excellence, be prepared for hard work and even a few bumps along the way. Your reward at the end of the trail will be knowing that you gave it your all to reach the peak of greatness.