Looking to reach your full potential and become the top performer in your field? Check out these helpful tips from award-winning mortgage adviser and business owner Monica Bradley from MB Associates to help you get there.
In today’s competitive market, striving to be the best at what you do is essential and crucial, especially in business. Whether it’s chasing that promotion, honing a hobby, or simply becoming a better version of yourself, if you’re going to do something, strive to be excellent. Don’t settle for being average. Instead, aim to be outstanding or at least extremely good at what you do. That way, you’re guaranteed to enjoy success and the rewarding feeling of knowing you’re highly skilled at what you do.
With the right mindset and habits, anyone can make progress and fulfill their dreams. That said, excellence is something that takes time to achieve. However, by focusing on the journey instead of just the end result and taking small steps towards improving yourself, you’ll eventually find success.
What is excellence?
To me, excellence means aiming for greatness. It’s about creating positive habits that add up over time. It means doing the best you can, day in, day out, repeated habits, and repeated efforts.
However, let’s not confuse excellence with perfection. You don’t have to be perfect to be excellent. In fact, being a perfectionist can hold you back and even lead to anxiety. Social impact author and marketer Sarah Lehberger recently wrote an article about striving for excellence on LinkedIn. It said that a perfectionist fears failure and lives with doubt hanging over them. American speaker, researcher, and storyteller Brené Brown agrees. She describes perfectionism as ‘self-destructive’.
Research backs this up. The Hardin Group is a company offering corporate training in the US. It conducted research in partnership with the Social Research Lab at the University of Northern Colorado about the impact of perfectionism at work. The research found that 72% of those surveyed believed perfectionism harms relationship building, and 68% thought it leads to burnout.
So how do you strive for excellence without pushing yourself too hard or expecting to be perfect? Here are some helpful habits and tips that have worked for me…
Set clear and achievable goals
Whether it’s a new skill, a job promotion, or a personal project, define your goals and make them SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-framed). Knowing precisely what you want to achieve and when you want to achieve it helps you stay motivated and focused, as it will create a sense of urgency.
Develop a growth mindset
A growth mindset is believing you can develop your abilities through hard work and dedication. It’s a mindset that embraces challenges and failures as learning opportunities rather than setbacks. With a growth mindset, you are not afraid to make mistakes and take risks, which ultimately helps you achieve excellence.
Create a plan and take action
World-famous life coach Tony Robbins says that to achieve a goal, you must take ‘consistent massive action’. I couldn’t agree more. Talk is cheap. Don’t be that person who talks about all the amazing things they’ll do one day and never delivers on their promises.
Once you have set your goals and developed a growth mindset, create a plan of action. Break down your goals into smaller tasks, prioritise them based on their importance, and create a timeline. Then, start taking action on your plan. Consistency is vital, so make sure you’re making progress every day.
Focus on learning and developing skills
Excellence requires constant learning and development. Invest in yourself by attending workshops, conferences, or taking courses. Practice new skills regularly and seek feedback from mentors or peers to improve your performance. Nothing in life stays the same, especially in the workplace. You’ll need to learn and master new skills to keep up with your colleagues and competitors.
Surround yourself with supportive people
Surrounding yourself with supportive people is crucial when striving for excellence. They provide encouragement, support, and feedback when you need it, which helps you stay motivated and focused. Additionally, they can offer new perspectives, insight, and advice to help you progress faster.
Build a great team around you
While being surrounded by positive friends is great, you can’t do everything alone. My team’s hard work, and dedication play a significant part in the success of my business. I actively seek out talented people with a strong work ethic. They are the foundation of my business. Once you’ve got great people working with you, treat them well. Treat people how you would wish to be treated.
Stay disciplined and consistent
Discipline and consistency are essential if you want to achieve excellence. Stick to your plan, even when you face obstacles, and remain consistent with your efforts. Discipline also means making sacrifices, such as cutting back on social media activity or TV time to focus on your goals.
Embrace failure and learn from it
Failure is an inevitable part of the journey towards excellence. Like it or not, things will go wrong. Embrace it and learn from it. Understand that failure does not reflect your abilities or your worth as a person. Instead, use it as an opportunity to learn and improve.
Celebrate your progress and achievements
Finally, it’s crucial to celebrate your progress and achievements, no matter how small. Celebrating milestones and progress provides a sense of accomplishment and motivation that keeps you going. It reinforces the idea that achieving excellence is possible and worth the effort.
Forget the past and focus on the future
Tony Robbins once said your past doesn’t equal your future unless you live there. Don’t live in the past. Let it go, and keep moving forward. Decide now what you want to focus on, what your goal means to you, and how you will achieve it. I’ve often said when interviewed about how I built my business that I never wanted to work for anyone else. Not liking the idea of having a boss meant I had to set up my own successful company and be the boss. My compelling reason was having the freedom to be my own boss, make my own decisions (and be accountable for them). So decide what’s important to you now, forget the past and work towards your goal.
More Information
Monica Bradley is the founder and Managing Director of award-winning mortgage brokers MB Associates. She has worked in financial services since 1987 and remains passionate about helping clients strive for a secure financial future.
Call 020 8 652 5240
Visit https://www.mbassociates.net/
Email info@mbassociates.net