Are you too much?

Well, are you? Let me expand on the question. Do you get people telling you that you focus too much time or effort on tasks - getting things right? Do people usually remark on how you are always putting too much into the things you do? Do you practice your craft over and over? Do you spend so much time working on your project? Have you heard people comment with “you are so extra” or “your own is too much”? If you often receive any of the above comments, you have an essential ingredient to success and that is the desire to go beyond the basics and go the extra mile. To be successful in anything requires effort, so keep pushing to do your best and not settle for mediocre.

Growing up, my Dad always made sure that we, his children, did even the simplest of tasks well. He taught us that if there was anything worth doing, it was worth doing well. There were times that the principle was hard to live up to, as there were some things that took hours to ‘get right’ in order for it to be ‘our best’. We learnt to put everything into what we did. Over the years though, that lesson has paid off several times.

There are enough people in this world who do what is average, who do just the basics to get by or survive. If we think about it, we’ll find this mind set begins at a very early age. (Just to clarify, I am not referring to ability in this blog, merely effort.) A typical example is in the classroom, the teacher gives everyone the same briefing for a piece of work which they all need to hand in. You will probably get the odd student who will refuse to do the work. Then you’ll get some who do the bare minimum required to get a pass. Some others will go further and carry out some research and even use an appropriate software on their computers to help present their work. Finally, there will be one or two that will think deeper, think out of the box to find a unique way to complete and deliver their work on that same topic. The odds are, those who researched, along with those went the extra mile, will be ‘sneered’ at by others, but will most likely receive extra points from their teacher. Life in general, is similar.

If you are one of those people who puts so much effort into even the smallest tasks, I commend you and encourage you to continue because you have much of what it takes to succeed. Regardless of your age, do not allow the remarks, jibes or jest of others stop you from working harder, being different or standing out. Do your thing. Succeed.

I would love to hear from you, so please do leave a comment.

Mottie