Average and excellence are always your choice to make.

I heard a conversation on ESPN Radio earlier this year where former NFL lineback Bart Scott shared what he saw as the difference between good & great. Scott talked about two former teammates who played defensive back - Antonio Cromartie & Darelle Revis.

"Cromartie was the best athlete I've ever seen. He could physically do things others couldn't but he would flip a switch when he wanted to play."

"Revis was always on. Even in practice, he would bat away balls. He was determined that even in walk-throughs, no one would catch a ball on him."

Cromartie had a good NFL career - four Pro Bowl appearances and one All-Pro season (2007).

Revis had a Hall of Fame career - seven Pro Bowl appears and four All-Pro seasons, along with a Super Bowl championship.

How could Revis - who Scott said was less physically talented than Cromartie - have a better career?

Because he made better choices.

Revis made the choice to treat every practice drill like it was live game-action during the Super Bowl. He gave 100% effort every chance and chose to always bring his best.

Cromartie - while incredibly talented - decided when he would give his best, and it wasn't always during practice. Perhaps not even every snap of every game.

One player was really good - but the less talented one will go down as one of the best ever because he made better choices.

Excellence is a choice.

• Do we hit snooze because it's Saturday or get up to train and keep our momentum going?
• Do we mail it in at work because "it's almost end of the year" or do we build 2023's momentum by still giving our best effort for the next 365 days?
• Do we relax to what's comfortable or push to what's required?

The small choices we make every day - those "can't see" decisions like hitting the snooze, pushing ourselves until the whistle, practicing our skills after work - are the ones that stack to create the "can't miss" results everyone sees.

In other words, the choices we make in our head determine whether we sink to average or rise to excellence.

Talent is great - but your choices are more impactful in determining your success.

Taking Action

1. Be honest with yourself:

Where is somewhere you haven't given consistently strong effort? Maybe you've relaxed on your sales calls because it's "been a good year." Perhaps you're dialing it back until "next year." Identify where your effort has been closer to average than excellence.

2. Make one shift.

Now that you've identified that one area - what's one thing you could do this upcoming week to take it from average to excellence?

What would someone at a level greater do in your exact spot?

Think about it. Write it down. Then do it.

3. Be more intentional each day.

Most people just "get through a day." Wake up with intention to attack the day and chase excellence. Create a morning routine. Don't just roll out of bed and head to work. Create space in your morning to meditate, journal, or gather your thoughts. Make the decision before the day starts of who you want to be - and then take actions to reinforce that decision.

You can do more to separate yourself with your choices than your circumstances or talent.

“To procrastinate is to be entitled. It is arrogant. It assumes there will be a later. It assumes you'll have the discipline to get to it later (despite not having the discipline now)." - Ryan Holiday

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