Many people dream of getting promoted in their jobs. They long for a dream job. Most people I know aspire to be the best where they are. In all areas of life, people have a dream of becoming the best and reaching the pinnacle of their professions. Unfortunately, most of the people who aspire to reach the height of their professions want this just to get more money. In actual fact, excellence should be our motivation.

When we aspire for promotion and desire elevation at our places of work, for the sake of excellence rather than for money, we become better people. Unfortunately, getting more money seems to be the greatest driving force for most people. When you are at the top of your profession just for the money, it does not always mean you are the best you could be.

“The quality of a man’s life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his chosen field of endeavor.” ― Sherman Alexie

When we are driven by the desire to be the best we could be, then excellence becomes the natural fruit of our efforts. Excellence is equal to self-perfection. The desire for excellence therefore is one of the strongest gifts an individual could give to himself. It is better than the gift of money. It supersedes the reward of a salary. In the case of a salary, you may have a fatter wallet but that does not necessarily result in a greater personality. But when you pursue excellence, your capacity is always enhanced. You become better professionally and at a personal level, you become better qualified and skilled and eventually this will affect your income.

“I hope you will simply do what you can do in the best way you know. If you do so, you will witness miracles come to pass.” ― Gordon B. Hinckley

The striving for excellence is one of the most important aspects of professionalism. No one can truly become professional in his or her chosen area without the striving for excellence. When you go after excellence, your focus is not on the salary or finances, even though that must be expected, too. Your focus is on putting quality in everything you do. A man of excellence tends to dedicate himself to giving his best into whatever he does. He sees his work as his signature. He puts a stamp of excellence by his integrity into whatever he does.

This is a major game changer between people who strive to attain promotion for money and those who strive for elevation through excellence. When you have excellence as your focus, you become an achiever sooner or later. When you become as good as you hope to be, in perfecting excellence, you will make rapid strides in your career growth. Moreover, you will leave behind all others who are in it just for the money.

“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” ― Vince Lombardi

There can be no doubt that excellence demands that you step out of your comfort zone which not too many people are willing to do. It is the unwillingness to step out of one’s comfort zone that keeps most people mediocre. It is that same unwillingness that reduces people to only want to make the money without the excellence. That is why people want to attain position without paying the price of excellence. Any kind of success attained this way will be short lived. A promotion attained through excellence though, endures for generations and generations to come. In the long run, it makes better sense to pay the price of discomfort and attain the height of excellence rather than maintaining the status quo without leaving your comfort zone.

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” ― Aristotle

Yes, you could occupy the position, make the money, but you would not leave an enduring legacy. In most cases you would still have to leave that comfort zone at a time you least expect it and at a cost you are not willing to pay. Anyhow you look at it, paying the temporary price of discomfort and getting the reward of excellence is always better than enjoying the status quo of a comfort zone which you will eventually lose anyway.

•Sunday Adelaja is a Nigerian born leader, Transformation Strategist, Pastor and innovator who lives in Kieve Ukraine. He can be contacted at sundayadelajablog@gmail.com

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