The Psychology Behind Excellence

As humans, we are all striving for perfection in our lives. When it’s time to think about what people want in their lives, their answers are often very clear. Even they can visualize their dream life. But when it comes to working towards their dream, they often feel that they are either clueless about the part or find it difficult to walk on it. If this situation persists for a long period, it can affect a person’s self-confidence and chances of fulfilling their dream. As with time, people get distracted by other factors and fears. Let’s talk about how to achieve excellence so people can learn to walk on the path of excellence and attain their goals.

What is excellence?

Excellence is about choosing high, but attainable goals in life and being persistent in achieving their goal. It’s about being good at certain skills that help the person achieve what they choose to be good at. For example, a dancer can work on his or her dance skills to be an excellent dancer. But while a person is in the process of excellence, they often have to encounter many barriers as well.

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Barriers to excellence

Many internal and external factors can prevent a person from achieving their goal.

a) Internal factors:

Many times, a person’s own hesitation and emotions can lead them to get into trouble.

1) Fear of being judged by others:

It’s really important to understand that people fail only when they try. Failure is part of excellence. And with each failure, they can collect learning lessons and try again. But when people become fearful of failure and how others will perceive them, they channel their energy in a different direction. They become so conscious of each step that it becomes difficult for them to focus on their efforts. It’s like their body is in action, but their mind has his or her own songs of criticism in it.

So it’s really important to accept that people have the right to think the way they want. What is in their control are their actions and thoughts. If they work for their betterment with time, others’ opinions and judgments will have less impact on them.

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2) Shame:

Shame is a very private emotion that one does not want to talk about. They feel very uncomfortable in such situations. In excellence, shame comes from fear of doing something wrong or from past incidents that made a person feel embarrassed. To overcome shame, self-acceptance, and regulations play an important role. It’s okay to feel embarrassed, but what is not is to get attached to this feeling. Learning to let go makes the person feel confident and ready to face challenges.

3) self-efficacy:

self-efficacy is about a person’s ability to estimate their potential to perform a task. In general, this term can be understood in the form of the feeling of “I can.” When people have poor self-efficacy, they perceive tasks as much bigger than their ability to achieve them. Whereas people with a good level of self-efficacy perceive tasks and abilities as less challenging and have a gut feeling that they can.

4) Procrastination:

Procrastination is the enemy of excellence. Procrastination is the habit of delaying tasks or postponing activities that are important to a person. When people perform tasks or acquire skills for a short period of time or under pressure, the quality of the work gets restricted from being excellent. So for people who often procrastinate, a simple line is: The right time is now. Even when they don’t want to, they must be in the process of action or practicing excellence, and gradually negative emotions subsided with time.

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5) Lack of consistency:

People talk about motivation, and what they lack to understand is the importance of discipline. To achieve excellence in any field, a person has to be consistent in the desired direction. It’s ok to get slow; it’s ok to take a rest, but what is not ok is to stop in the process. Each day, re-evaluate the plan, work on the loopholes, and practice as much as possible. There is no shortcut to success. So being persistent is the key to achieving your goal.

6) Communication skills:

While a person is in the process of excellence, they have to openly speak about what they can understand and what they can’t. Most people are shy when it comes to asking questions or becoming self-critical. They do not ask questions. Excellence is about knowing what was not known to them or how to do a similar thing differently. So people who want to be excellent in any field have to work on their communication skills.

7) Lack of adaptability:

Flexible thinking helps the person learn and adapt to new situations or environments. A person who has the right belief or thought process finds it difficult to meet the demands of the moment and learn. Being flexible in action means if they can’t perform the task for any urgent reason, they recompense it by working a little extra.

B) External factors:

Sometimes external factors lead to a deprivation of excellence too.

1) Distraction:

Sometimes, due to distractions in the environment, a person finds it difficult to focus on the task. This distraction can be noise, any visual distraction, or the surroundings. In such situations, the focus should be on what they can do to minimize the level of distraction or how they can navigate through distracting situations. If they blame the situation and distance, they are going to lose the opportunity and slow the growth process.

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2) Lack of resources:

Resources help the person meet the objective. When facing an issue of lack of response, a person is supposed to seek help from their family and support system. In such situations, they have to become emotionally strong and fight to their fullest, or what is needed, with their full effort. They should focus on what can be done to meet the objective. Success has meaning only because it’s hard to achieve.

Tips for enhancing excellence:

1. A person must have a clear structure of goals.
2. From time to time, they should focus on evaluating their performance and taking constructive feedback.
3. Seek perfection and surround themselves with people who are good in that field.
4. Create a vision of the future and add emotions to it, e.g., how will you feel when you achieve your excellence?
5. Work on your strengths and weaknesses. Self-awareness helps in the process of excellence.
6. Focus is very important. Be observant while learning, understand the nuances of the task, and practice it.
7. Goals should be measurable. It’s necessary to understand that growth can be tracked accurately only when it’s measurable.
8. Work on their physical and mental wellness
9. Be updated about the field in which they are willing to seek excellence.
10. Use self-appraisal and empathy when required. Being their own support system.