I'll Persuade You That It's Never Been Easier to Reach Excellence

if it’s one thing we all can accept, the bar for excellence has never been lower in this generation.

look at the past for example, people in their youth, to kings, to conquerors, have all done extraordinary things that have vastly shaped the course of human history.

individual decisions of authority influenced the lives of so many people, and beyond.

and now?

very few people and an increasingly rare amount of individuals stand out.

yes, times have changed.

technology has advanced drastically, medicine & sanitation has made us more healthier, and the internet has made things easier.

but at the same time, the modern life is sending us down a trajectory of complacency, mediocrity, and even in worse scenarios, self-destruction.

the scary part is, most don’t even know it themselves.

they’re okay with living comfortably because that’s all they know. they don’t know that life has more to offer, something greater than the box of comfort.

you know this, you may be someone that wants to be greater than you are, but you don’t have the exact mindset necessary to reach excellence.

all of that is covered in here, and by the end of reading this, you’ll have the blueprint necessary to reach excellence and fly past everyone else.

so do pay attention.

it’s currently 11:26 AM as I write this, woke up feeling super refreshed. axolotl by C418 dialed in my ears, flushing out any noise with the ethereal instrumentals.

came back from a high intensity run, feeling an emotional high from the rush of endorphins, BDNF, and serotonin, the same kind of emotional high that exceptional individuals who’ve reached excellence must’ve felt.

i’ve always wondered why so many people overcomplicate the journey to excellence, why they don’t have the will to push through when times get rough.

and honestly? it’s never been so simple. you just need a mindset shift to see things you can’t unsee.

nonetheless, do approach all of this with an open mind.

let’s get into it.

here’s the major issue that’s plaguing the world today, and you know it.

the rise of social media and it’s globalization is quite literally comparable to opening Pandora’s box.

you can look at the cup half full and say that it’s never been easier to educate ourselves, to learn a new skill from the bottom up.

this is all true, yes.

but when you look at a larger scale, few realize that our own phones, social media, and the internet is operating as a double-edged sword.

and objectively, the negatives are continuously outweighing the positives as time goes on.

you see way too many people destroying the barrier between their private life and public life by posting online.

the need to post a story to let the world know that you’re building something.

the need to post yourself studying in a coffee shop or café to let the world know you’re focused.

and here’s the thing:

there’s way too many people are focused on proving themselves instead of improving themselves.

read that again.

your competition is quite literally hooked on external validation, focusing on the wrong things such as chasing a certain number of likes on a post, how much followers they have, or the amount of views they get.

and you would wonder why is excellence becoming increasingly rarer and rarer in our day and age?

we’re too busy chasing that next hit of dopamine instead of focusing on what really matters.

skills, mastery in our craft, consistent & continuous improvement in the process.

these things matter the most.

everything else? they’re all byproducts.

and in the pursuit of excellence, let your competition worry about the wrong things.

if you want to rise above the baseline everyone operates on, work on improving yourself to mastery instead of appearing to look like a master.

you’ll run circles around everyone else once you realize this.

“focus on you until the focus is on you.”

we need to address an ongoing problem that’s going on in this day and age.

mediocrity is being normalized, and exceptionalism is being ridiculed.

and you might be asking, what do you exactly mean by this?

take a look around you, on social media in particular. you see people posting their progress, their journeys, and their accomplishments, which is truly amazing to see.

then you take a look at the comment sections.

there’ll be a select few downplaying their success, pockets of hate spoken through words, and comments indirectly displaying envy & jealousy.

exceptionalism is being ridiculed.

you also see this with family members, or even close friends when you want to pursue a grand goal or vision. you may want to carve out a path of your own.

but then you’re told that you should think realistic, that the path you’re going down isn’t healthy, or that it won’t go anywhere.

they’re intentionally placing caps on your potential, because you aspiring to reach excellence is projecting their own insecurity.

that they replicate what you’re doing.

and trust me, I’ve been there and I know how it feels.

but excellence is a matter of moving forward anyway and rising above the expectations and perceptions being placed on you.

even if people around you want the best for you, pursue what feels like crazy to most but feels like destiny to you.

after all, you are the author of your own story. every day that passes is a page that’s being flipped, every single year is a chapter you are living.

now, are you going to curate a story that means something to you? or are you going to spend your life trying to curate a story for someone else that doesn’t align with you?

and one more thing needs to be addressed, hate.

think of it this way: if you’re getting hate comments, people mocking you, or making fun of you trying to become better, it’s usually a sign that you’re on the right path.

i remember getting a couple of hate comments on my publication, some of the things being told to me were honestly so absurd that it didn’t even make any logical sense.

it shouldn’t be an indicator that you should stop what you’re doing, it’s usually a sign that you should keep moving.

this powerful framework takes you far.

nonetheless, rise above mediocrity, and be exceptional no matter what anyone says.

do things for yourself. live for yourself. truly rise above the expectations and standards of other people.

“i did not conquer half the world by listening to men who conquered nothing.” - Alexander the Great

this is a very uncomfortable question that many would hesitate to answer.

but I want you to understand this:

excellence requires sacrifices, it requires trade-offs. it’s truly a necessary variable in the process to reach the next level.

time devoted to excellence cannot simultaneously be devoted to surface-level pleasures.

the person who wants to build an excellent physique cannot say yes to the party because it might throw their circadian rhythm off balance, which is crucial for recovery.

the person who aspires to build a coding project cannot scroll on social media because it might throw their focus off balance, which is crucial for progress.

the person who wants to find their own authentic voice cannot subscribe to the opinions of other people imposing their beliefs on them.

you get the idea.

the thing about excellence is this.

are you going to sacrifice for what you want? or let the things you want become a sacrifice?

ponder on that for a minute.

because if you really think about it, the masses would choose the latter. they are more willing to live life comfortably, to not disappoint others, to people please at the expense of their own authenticity.

it’s simply the identity they reinforced and internalized.

but you’re an obvious exception to this.

and it all makes sense, the human mind evolved to go down the path of least resistance, to conserve as much energy as possible to navigate through everyday life.

making sacrifices can take up a lot of energy in the short-term, but in the long-term, it’ll eventually pay off.

when you really think about it, the sacrifices you’ve made in the now, can save you a lot of money, time, and relationships in the future.

it’s genuinely a matter of thinking long-term, and delayed gratification.

something excellence demands.

so if you’re someone that knows that you’re destined for more in this life, this question has one obvious answer only, yes.

the moment you’re willing to do so, you’ll be in the top 1%.

let that be you.

“to live the life you want, you must give up the life you have now.”

i cannot stress this enough, this is one of the most important sections in this entire article, so do pay attention.

we tend to overlook the power that momentum has on progress.

and I mean this, we overlook this way too much for our own good.

here’s the beautiful thing when it comes to the relationship between progress and excellence.

think of it like this, you’re trying to move a large boulder down a hill.

you’re not getting anywhere just yet trying to push it down initially, you may struggle with getting any movement in.

but the more you put your effort, focus, and force into pushing the boulder, you eventually get some movement in. slow, gradual movement at best.

the boulder eventually gets more speed in, more momentum.

and eventually, you start to reach the tipping point, the threshold where the ball will eventually rolls on it’s own down the hill.

the work and effort has paid off, you can enjoy the fruits of your labor.

one must imagine Sisyphus happy.

but instead of tricking the Greek gods repeatedly to be punished to roll a boulder up a hill for eternity, he had to roll the boulder down the hill instead.

how much more fun would that be?

all of this works similarly to the goals we’re pursuing, the projects or businesses we’re building, and the dreams we aspire to make reality.

jensen huang, the CEO of Nvidia infamously said this:

“excellence is the capacity to take pain.”

and it all makes sense.

you may struggle with the beginning stages of working on something, dealing with failure, betrayal maybe, maybe self-sabotage in the process.

but if you’re resilient to withstand those same stages, you’ll fly past everyone that gave up or gave in to

this is the beautiful thing about momentum.

if you really think about it rationally, all you need is one viral post to send you to the stratosphere for growth. one breakout sports performance for scouts to take notice. one good financial quarter for your business or agency to really take off in the market you’re in.

you just need one major win, then the rest becomes easier.

and if you’re someone that’s in the struggling stages, you might ask yourself, “when will I get my first major win? when will I get momentum?”

these are normal questions to ask, trust me, because I’ve been there.

but think of it like this, your journey, the skill you’re mastering, the projects you’re building, all function like a slot machine.

if you keep showing up and pulling the lever, eventually you’ll hit the jackpot.

everything will change for the better once you hit it. and the beauty of the game is, only this time, you have an infinite amount of spins.

the same applies to what we’re all pursuing, building, or working on.

you just have to show up enough times, get experience, and keep on pulling levers that it’ll be impossible for you to not get momentum and win.

the probabilities of success after showing up for such a long time, consistently, are completely in your favor by then.

and the only true failure you can ever commit is if you give it all up. don’t let that be you. once you get momentum, it’ll impossible for you to stop growing, excellence is only a strand of hair away.

reread this section if you must, it’s so crucial.

“progress looks like nothing, then it comes all at once.”

you reading up until this point tells me two things.

one, your attention span isn’t fried and you’re capable of absolute focus. which is something most people don’t have.

take a look at this:

statistics show that the average focus time on a single screen task has dropped from 2.5 minutes in 2004, to roughly 47 seconds today.

about 35% of that is attributed to social media and notifications, 31% is attributed to boredom or low interest, and 23% is attributed to multitasking.

there’s so many variables that are absolutely decimating the attention span of the masses.

yet here you are, reading an 13+ minute article on how to get better, on how to reach excellence.

that speaks volumes.

and two, you’re genuinely destined for more, and I genuinely mean that.

some would’ve scrolled past this piece, some would’ve saved this for later only to forget about it, or stop half way and never continue ever again.

you reading up until this point means that you’re devoted to becoming better. you’re disciplined, you’re focused, and you’re driven to become greater than you are.

and if you don’t think you have these traits, let me tell you this.

i urge you to believe in yourself in such high regard that it’ll be impossible for you to not reach excellence. reality would and will be forced to bend to your favor if you have so much confidence in yourself and your capabilities.

if there’s anything that would bridge the gap between you and your goals, it would be confidence.

it’s quite literally the antidote to fear and hesitation.

this is one of the core messages I wanted to get out, and most will miss this.

that’s okay, but you’re an exception. you’re special, and destined for more if you’ve read up until this point. set your heart ablaze, and let this renew your spirit to reach even higher heights than what you can even imagine.

reread this section if you need to. you need it.

the standard for excellence is genuinely diminishing in real time.

you may or may not see it for yourself, but it’s slowly becoming evident that there are fewer and fewer people striving for greatness in this day and age.

this is your opportunity to rise above this modern day baseline for excellence.

you’re better than the expectations drilled into you by society and people who want the best for you. so to refresh your memory, we’ll go over everything we discussed one by one:

your competition is addicted to vanity. everyone is too fixated on proving instead of improving. understand that external validation is a byproduct of the process, of mastery in your craft, and continuous improvement, which should be your primary focus.

mediocrity is normalized, while exceptionalism is being ridiculed. and so the baseline for excellence is getting lower and lower. you can rise above this by moving forward anyway despite other opinions, and by pursuing what seems crazy to most but feels like destiny to you.

are you willing to make trade-offs that the masses wouldn’t otherwise accept? this is an uncomfortable question for many, but excellence demands you make sacrifices to get what you want, otherwise what you want becomes a sacrifice. most would choose the latter, you’re an exception.

excellence is a matter of reaching the point of momentum and beyond. if you’re able to push past those initial stages of struggle, before you know it, all your work will pay off and success becomes truly inevitable.

you reading up until this point tells me your attention span is strong, and that you have everything capable of reaching excellence. traits of devotion to become better, discipline, a hunger to become greater than you are.

if there’s anything I want you to take away from this, it would be that the opportunities to rise above the excellence baseline have never been more prominent.

greatness is slowly becoming a lost art. but you have everything necessary to reach a level no one else has ever seen in your lifetime.

there is no excuses this time. the only person stopping you from achieving everything you’ve ever wanted, is yourself.

either you take this information and run circles around others, or live the same life you’ve always lived, the comfortable life.

the choice is yours.

do what you will.

if you loved this article, you’ll love my other articles here, give them a read: