Consistency / Time = Excellence

Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all-the-time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right every time. Winning is a habit.

If there is an award presented on behalf of your last name, you probably know a thing or two about what it takes to be a successful leader and a winner at that much. There undoubtedly is no question that Vince Lombardi understood the process it takes to lead and to win.

There is a scene in The Office where Dwight is repeatedly conditioned to naturally respond to accepting a mint from Jim after hearing a computer error sound. The scene itself is quite hysterical, but the theory is known as the Pavlovian method. Not only does this theory apply to Dwight, but to our pursuit of excellence as individuals.

Everyone says that practice makes perfect. However, if that practice is not excellent, you will always be perfect at bad practice. The idea of perfection is tough to grasp. In part, mainly because no one will ever attain perfection. Even if you had an undefeated record that one season, I’m sure you dropped a pass, fumbled the ball, or had a missed assignment. Perfection isn’t a number [and it isn’t a state of being], the chase is the thing, the drive, something inside you that wants to be truly great and won’t settle and won’t ever be satisfied — the mindset. That’s perfect. That’s as close as you can get.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

Lombardi, Pavlov, and Aristotle (quote above) are all onto something about the process of conditioning ourselves to be who we want to be; to be the best version of ourselves. It takes dedication, constant training, reframing and focus to build and become what we believe to be excellent.

It is a process and it is a standard. Too often we focus on setting goals and rules to validate trying to attain perfect instead of focusing on the process. Preparedness is certainly important, we must stay practiced and ready to perform, but that is part of the process!

The process is simple in theory but often not comprehended. For example, say that we set a goal this season to win eight games and get into the conference tournament. This goal/rule would impose a restriction on our team and satisfaction would arrive too soon if the goal had been accomplished. What if the team ended up winning ten games? What if we won the national championship? What is more important than setting a goal or rule is to focus on the smaller things. Focus on the everyday processes and habits you know add up to success. Small seeds become mighty trees.

In football, the average play lasts just six seconds. Be excellent for those six seconds, then another six seconds, then another. If you screwed up on a rep, be better the next rep (have short, but long term memory — don’t make the same mistake twice). By doing this, we engage a process of always continually getting better than the last six seconds you were before.

This is focusing on the process.