Introducing Excellence
From the moment you are born, your destiny awaits you; it’s yours for the taking. The opportunity to be an inspiring person exists as long as you do, and the only thing that can stop you from achieving it is yourself. Growing into your greatest potential and achieving excellence are often thought of as unattainable or impractical. Often, you are so bogged down by your consistent habits and routines that they become the norm for your day-to-day life. In fact, doing something “out of the ordinary” becomes nothing short of a test. In doing so, you confine yourself and restrict your full potential without even getting anywhere close to it.
Many of you, either conditioned by society or otherwise, believe that your life corresponds to the same actions. Get an education, get a skill, get a job, get a mortgage, get married, have children, work for two-thirds of your life, get a pension, and retire—and that’s it. Yet, time and time again, there have been many individuals who have broken this norm and reached greatness—true pioneers of their respective fields—who started from where you are. You are destined for excellence. Reading this right now, in the initial stages of this book, might sound rather far-fetched, but when you finish reading this book, remember to revisit this very segment to remind yourself that you are destined for excellence—and you can achieve it.
You will cultivate this feeling throughout the course of this book. It will be something you will take with you on your journey in life. This innate desire to grow into our most significant potential is present in us all, but life bogs us down. Be it work, school, personal life, or otherwise, we all have multiple responsibilities to cater to. In the process of doing so, we lose sight of this innate greatness and diverge from this path. Many people give up on this journey because they:
· did not know what they truly wanted
· were told they couldn’t
· felt powerless, stupid, or unworthy
· feared and didn’t believe they could
· had no way of knowing how to do it
· couldn’t dedicate themselves to it
· kept making and giving in to excuses
· did not have clarity, plan, and vision
Now, after more than thirty years of studying, bridging together science, psychology, technology, and universal laws, and assisting thousands of clients, I have deduced the perfect method to guide people onto the path of excellence in their chosen areas of life. Let us commence our journey and dive straight into just why you are destined for excellence.
Achieving the Impossible Becomes Possible When You Have a Big Why
Whenever we consider any successful individual, an often-forgotten fact of life is that we put them on a pedestal. Since they’ve achieved global recognition and accolades, we assume they are a step beyond us. However, this is far from the truth. Nearly all of the notable, successful entities in the world who have significantly contributed to humanity as a whole arose from relatively humble beginnings. Many of those individuals have changed the world’s shape and nature as we know it today.
If the Wright brothers weren’t as tenacious and resilient when it came to their first aircraft, we might have never taken to the skies. In fact, the very aircraft-control system they devised for their airplane more than a century ago is still used in aircraft today. (It’s been modified to meet modern-day demands, but the same fundamental idea still persists.) Two brothers who didn’t even have high school diplomas set the foundation of modern-day aviation! Imagine that!
Similarly, if it weren’t for Bill Gates, a college dropout, developing the operating system that is now used by more than a billion people worldwide—solely based on a big why and a goal he set—I would probably be using a typewriter to write this book! The Wright brothers, Nicola Tesla, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama, Usain Bolt, Elon Musk, Richard Branson, Madonna, Adele, Rita Ora, Dua Lipa, Simon Cowell, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and other people who have changed the world did so because they lived with certain principles and had clear-cut visions and goals that were driven by a big why and aspirations that they had planned to the dot.
Being raised in average circumstances does not restrict you from achieving above average results. I am living proof that anything you set your mind to is achievable. As a child, I was subjected to various forms of abuse. As a teenager, I was bullied, was forced to fight in a civil war I despised, and became a homeless refugee on the streets of London. As an adult, I faced anxiety, depression, discrimination, an identity crisis, loneliness, poverty, and inequalities that crippled my being. To make matters worse, I had to face people who got high by making others feel small with their homophobic and xenophobic comments. Little did I know back then that every adversity I faced would eventually help me clarify who I am, why I do what I do, and what do I want to dedicate my life to. This is important, yet very often underestimated, step on the journey to growing into your fullest potential.
Today, my why is to use all I have learned and continue to learn to change positively, impact, and transform the lives of billions of people. I’ve used the same principles of personal excellence you are about to discover and learn to overcome various life struggles and unforeseen roadblocks. Each one of them assisted me and those I have coached over the years to transcend disempowering mental concepts and align actions, behaviors, and plans with our big why. It is why I travel globally to coach and assist countless entrepreneurs, CEOs, businesses, celebrities, and people from all professions to create the personal, relationship, financial, professional, and business breakthroughs and results they seek. Most of them achieved their success because they did eight things:
1. They somehow managed to turn their pain into a purposeful vision that inspires them.
2. They envisioned their success and worked day and night to achieve it.
3. They worked with a set of priority of values and principles that were aligned with their astronomical vision, which was driven by a big why.
4. They established systematic plans to achieve their success.
5. They invested in working consistently with a coach who would help them overcome challenges, expand their vision, clarify the next steps, and keep them accountable and focused.
6. They never made excuses or blame others when things went wrong.
7. They saw anything that was not working as an opportunity to grow, learn, and transform and not as an insurmountable hurdle.
8. They didn’t play it safe, and they operated from a place of willingness to fail; if they didn’t, they would never create the ability to win.
Begin to do these eight things daily and willingly, and you may soon see things change for the better in your personal, professional, and business life. Doing what others refuse to do can give you the edge you need to find the success you want.
You may be afraid to fail because you’re overly concerned with the judgments of others. You do the minimum and try to fly under the radar, but what would change in your life if you never were afraid of failure? If you want to bring your goals to life, an attitude that behind every mistake is an opportunity to learn will serve you well.
Unsuccessful people spend a lot of energy and time making excuses and blaming government, the economy, the customer, prices, or competition. Even if the excuses are all true, complaining about it likely won’t improve the outcome, and successful people know this. No matter how justified you are, try never to make an excuse for any result.
Truth be told, many of us are not prepared for life’s greatest adversity or are equipped with the knowledge from an early age of how each life challenge, fear, or pain can be a brilliant catalyst for reaching excellence. If we don’t have an end in mind, how on earth will we know when we have arrived where we want to be? Suppose you are not living in harmony with a set of personal excellence principles to get you the health, the relationship, the family, the job, the career, the wealth, the customer, or the desired lifestyle you want. In that case, you will remain stuck in old paradigms designed to keep you imprisoned in the illusion created by disempowered expectations of you. If this is not what you want, it’s time for you to embrace the importance of creating a clear life-fulfillment plan.
A lack of planning for the spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, relationship, financial, career/business, and social growth you want creates havoc and discord in your life. You don’t plan a vacation without some sort of plan; why would you do the same for your life? Lack of precise planning, not knowing how to break through fears, self-imposed limits, overcoming challenges that cause us pain, losing hope, not seeking help, not choosing to live by priorities of actions driven by a hierarchy of authentic values, and giving up are the eight fundamental causes of failure.
Don’t be fooled. Challenges do not end, and they do not get easier. However, you can get stronger, smarter, and soulful enough to face them head-on. You can utilize the challenges you face as stepping-stones to achieve greatness. Planning, using a set of principles for personal excellence, and facing adversities are going to be things you look forward to.
The Comfort Zone: Quicksand
To achieve greatness, fulfillment, and our true potential requires bravely venturing into uncharted avenues of life: the terra incognita. Throughout history, those who have made a significant difference for society’s betterment have done so by completely altering and reshaping the existing conceptions that prevailed at the given time.
For many people, escaping the comfort zone deems to be the most challenging hurdle to overcome. Responsibilities bind most people, and they simply cannot take the risk to venture out of their comfort zones. They believe that trying out or even considering new avenues could result in something detrimental. These people often fail to recognize the endless possibilities that can be found right outside the comfort zone! Their lives are reflections of what’s going on in their minds.
It’s best to jot down whatever restraints you have when it comes to leaving your comfort zone. Much like the heading suggests, it is quite like quicksand. The more you convolute yourself in self-doubt and continuously question yourself, the deeper you will sink. The most effective way to break free is to use a streamlined method to pull yourself out. To break free of your comfort zone requires you to create a huge why to make you comfortable with discomfort.
The further you venture from the safety nets you have put up, the more you will discover. Ultimately, things you would once consider out of your comfort zone will become a fundamental part of it! In this pursuit of excellence, you need to remember that the journey begins with the very first step you take to clarify your authentic values and bravely journey outside of your comfort zone.
Why This Book?
Once you’ve read this far, you may be wondering what you will gain from this book. I have encapsulated my decades of teachings into an easy-to-follow method, and it will be a one-stop guide for excellence in your chosen area of life with a set of principles for any troubles you are facing in your life. You will walk away with a blueprint for achieving your greatest potential.
Everyday life became stagnant due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. At some point, most of the world’s population had enough, some lost their jobs, and others struggled to cope with the loss of loved ones or making ends meet. For many people, years of hard work seemingly came to a halt. If that was not enough, the world watched in horror as Russia invaded Ukraine, creating another worry for the people of Russia and Ukraine and the world. In trying times such as this, I wish to utilize my knowledge and use this book as a way to spread hope, knowledge, and inspiration. Despite all odds, there are still ways to put yourself onto the path toward achieving your wildest dreams with personal, professional, or business excellence leading the way. In doing so, you can be the hope that others use to rise when everything around them forces them to fall.
This book is relevant for anyone who picks it up. If you’re looking for a job, are currently unemployed, or are an overwhelmed professional, entrepreneur, or CEO experiencing burnout or stress, continuous improvement is at the forefront of the road to overcoming challenges and frustrations and achieving excellence. This is what I aim to teach everyone. It is never too late to make amends or grow from where you already stand.
Don’t think of this as a miracle cure-all drug! I will provide you with the necessary tools and a blueprint for reaching your greatest potential. This book contains a set of personal excellence principles to help you face your challenges and the corresponding emotional responses and tackle them accordingly. By using a blend of scientific and spiritual teachings, you will get the best of both worlds! As they say, “Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime.”
The next chapter will explain why it takes guts to climb to greater heights and how you can move forward on your specific path to attain your goals by striving for excellence in your chosen field. The only thing that differentiates you from other successful people is the willingness to do the actions and the work it takes to make your why create a significant difference in the lives of others. By the time you complete this book, you will have already set foot in the direction of change by eliminating the barriers that were created by society’s mirrors.
Using a set of personal excellence principles, you can upgrade your mind’s operating system, change your response to stimuli, and find the perfect equilibrium. You can evolve your mindset, alter your behaviors, and balance your perceptions.
On my continuous and ever-evolving personal excellence journey, I realized that things that matter the most must never be at the mercy of those who matter the least. To climb to greater heights, it’s wise to have a set of principles of personal excellence to determine, examine, and modify our actions, behaviors, focus, and thoughts. It is why I synthesized years of learning into the Octagon of Excellence method, which you will be learning about in the follow-up chapters, and have a center point. The blueprint to your greatest potential consists of eight powerful, scientifically based principles for personal, professional, and business excellence. When used regularly, these principles will help you build a resilient mental framework and an easy-to-follow, step-by-step plan to face any adversity life throws at you as you climb to greater heights. They will guide you to meet any challenge head-on, adapt, behave, and act in ways that are best suited for the path of excellence you envision for your life.
The energy, the language, the meaning, and the power of each of the principles of personal excellence will become the foundation of any individual, relationship, professional, financial, or business transformation you seek and help you successfully deliver any task at hand.
Unleashing the true power of the Octagon of Excellence’s principles requires you to acknowledge the role you play in the bigger scheme of life. The kind of thoughts you think and the type of language you use influence how life responds to the experiences you create in life. Remember, the principles only work if you choose to work with them every day.
What you will learn from this book will become your bread and butter. This is a book that you will read more than once, and you will probably have multiple bookmarks throughout!
