If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent... — Thomas J. Watson

If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work.

Author: Thomas J. Watson

Insight: Most of us live with a comfortable two-tier system: we do excellent work on the things that matter most, and acceptable-but-lazy work on everything else. The email response that's good enough. The project at work we're just getting through. The way we talk to someone we're not that invested in. We tell ourselves this is realistic, that excellence is reserved for our big moments. But Watson's point cuts through that bargain. Excellence isn't something you switch into when conditions are perfect or stakes are high. It's a baseline you either maintain or you don't. The tricky part is that it's not really about the task—it's about you. Doing less-than-excellent work trains your brain to accept mediocrity. It builds a habit of slacking, a permission structure that follows you everywhere. One sloppy email doesn't matter much in isolation, but it's practice in being sloppy. The surprising angle isn't that excellence is hard. It's that excellence might actually be easier than the mental gymnastics we do to justify doing things halfheartedly. When you stop negotiating with yourself about what "good enough" means and just commit to doing the thing well, the friction disappears. You're not fighting yourself anymore. As of right now, that choice is available.

Source: In Search of the Ultimate Practice, p. 19, 1995