DRIVEN BY EXCELLENCE

What is the force that is driving you to work?

One of the traits of highly successful people, be they in business, education or spiritual life is that they are driven by the drive to excel.

What does excellence mean?

It basically means giving your very best to whatever activity you do, putting your heart fully in it and being fully present to the activity in front of you.

It doesn't matter if the activity demanding your attention is small or big. In the Niti shastra there is a verse which mentions that a lion whether it attacks an elephant or a rabbit, it attacks with the same intensity. What it means is that for the lion, every attack is equally important. Just like Srila Prabhupada, whether he was speaking to thousands of people or a few people he spoke with the same intensity.

'The difference between ordinary people and extraordinary people is that ordinary people do extraordinary things in an ordinary way whereas extraordinary people do even ordinary things in an extraordinary way.' Actually there is nothing as an ordinary thing, every work is special, if seen in the right perspective.

We have a choice to live a life of mediocrity or a life of excellence. A life of mediocrity is easy but you leaves you unsatisfied but a life of excellence is difficult because it needs focus, effort and channelizing your energies but the result is you feel deep fulfillment.

So our benchmark in life should be excellence. If we are a student let us be the best student we possibly can, if we are a employee let us be the best employee we possibly can and for those practicing spiritual life, if we are a spiritualist let us try to be the best spiritualist we possibly can.

You see, anyway we need to perform certain roles in life, then why not strive for excellence in them.

Our motto should be - OK is not OK, excellence is OK. When someone asks you "How was your chanting today", we should be able to say "Excellent" not "OK". When someone asks you, "How was your study today", we should be able to say "Excellent" not "OK". When someone asks you "How is your life going", we should be able to say "Excellent " not "OK".

A life of mediocrity can be monotonous and a drag but a life of excellence is exciting at every moment. When you live a life based on improving, a life in which you trying to get better everyday, trying to break your own records, the world automatically takes note of you and your name is soon on the success list.

As it is said 'When excellence becomes your habit then success becomes your norm.'

- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

GIVING UP PETTINESS to EXPERIENCE PRETTINESS

"The process of Krishna consciousness will empower us when we empower it." The other day as I was taking a bath, the plastic bucket I was using, slipped and cracked. A piece from the rim of the bucket broke off and cut my finger. As I was waiting for the bucket to refill with water, I noticed that even after a long time the bucket wasn't filling up. It's at that time, I noticed a "not so apparent" crack at the bottom of the bucket which was causing all the water to leak out. I drew a lesson from this incident which is applicable to my spiritual life. SEALING THE LEAKS The process of spiritual life or Krishna consciousness which includes the nine fold limbs beginning with Shravanam (hearing) and Kirtanam (chanting) is like filling the container - the vessel of our hearts. For the vessel of our hearts to fill up, it should be leak free. If the container is faulty and contains many holes, the best of content, in the best of quantity will not help it fill. Ana...

PRACTICAL TOOLS FOR DESIRE MANAGEMENT

“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of, so they can see that it’s not the answer.” ― Jim Carrey, American - Canadian actor Long back, I heard this analogy to explain the nature of the unlimited desires in our hearts. It is explained in this analogy that, even if all the water bodies in earth are made into ink to fill a pen whose nib is as small as an atom and the sky is made into paper to write on; the ink will get exhausted, the nib will break and the paper will run-out but our list of desires will not get over - we will still have more left. Over these years of spiritual practices, I have realized the truth behind this analogy. I have become more aware of the dynamics of desires and it's working in life. Even though our hearts are filled with unlimited desires, luckily just a few jump into awareness every now and then, just like a few fish jump out of the surface of the ocean every now and then even though the ocean is filled with u...

THE DEFECTIVE PURE DEVOTEE

Reading this topic, our mind naturally challenges - How can a pure devotee have defects? Shouldn't he, be free from defects? The 100% perfect person! The Mr. Perfect! The point is that a pure devotee can't be seen with material eyes and material logic. Just like Lord Krishna can't be seen with material eyes, so also His pure devotees. You need spiritual vision to appreciate God, His abode, His name and His devotees. Thus Bhakti Vinod Thakur, one of the greatest spiritual teachers of all times quotes the following verse from the Mahabharata which is generally sung before honoring prasadam. maha-prasade govinde, nama-brahmani vaishnave, svalpa-punya vatam rajan, visvaso naiva jayate. " Those who don't have sufficient pious credits cannot develop faith in Maha-prasadam, Lord Govinda, Holyname, Brahmanas and the Vaishnavas. " Sometimes Lord Krishna puts an apparent curtain of imperfection in front of our eyes, so that only those with faith can appreciat...

The Wisdom Park

Search This Blog