Mind Realignment for Excellence Vol. 2

This book is about rediscovering your full potential, re-inventing your life and redesigning your future. It is about re-evaluating where you have been, where you stand today, and where you would like your journey of life to take you tomorrow. It is about burning the old maps that got you stranded in the jungles, and creating a new global positioning system (GPS) for your life. It is about achieving excellence. Excellence is to run on all cylinders, having air in your tires and a full tank of gas. Excellence is manifested when your actions mirror your true capabilities and those who observe you are left with a sense of wonder. Excellence is a way of thinking, believing and behaving like a trail blazer so that followers can see the promised land by your example. The book is designed to help you match your plans with your purpose. It is full of practical wisdom for life.

The Principle of Excellence: If you wish to achieve excellence, then you must ride on the wings of your excellent thoughts. Excellence resides in minds that are allergic to playing the blame games, brooding, complaining, singing the “I can’t” song, and accepting mediocrity as the standard to live by. Excellence will never inhabit a mind that hatches excuses for personal laziness and procrastination. It will never party with a mind that shirks responsibility and is happy with marginal performance. Excellence dances with eagles and soars higher than vultures that feast on the morbid and the mundane. In pursuit of excellence the mind must be realigned and retooled to make wise choices, and chart a brighter path for the future.

The Principle of Expectation: Imagine your mind is a factory. If you expect good results, you must inspect what is hatched in your mind daily. The mind is like a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds that can grow weeds or flowers. You are the gardener. You can plant whatever you choose! Carry this book with you. It will be your lively companion to help you plant pleasant thoughts to brighten your journey of life. Don’t just read the book; apply it to your life. Ask yourself, if I really do what is recommended in this book, what will my life be like in five years? If I begin to practice what is recommended, what impact will I have on people around me in five years? What impact will my life have at my home, at my work place and within my circle of influence? If your presence does not uplift the soul you encounter, then your absence would be a blessing!

Four Keys to Realizing the Impossible Dream: When we are young, we dream of becoming firemen, policemen, doctors, nurses, garbage collectors or ice cream truck drivers. I wanted to be a train conductor. With one whistle, the conductor could start or stop the train. The conductor was always well dressed and wore a neat hat with the word “Conductor” written on it. I thought it would be cool to have such a job. What was your dream? Whatever your dream, let me share with you some secrets to accomplishing it, no matter how impossible it may seem. 1. Know What You Want. You don’t have to be brilliant, but you must know what you want. If you don’t know where you are going, the fastest Ferrari with its tank topped with jet fuel would not get you to your destination. You must have passion in your soul for what you want. 2. Be Prepared to Sacrifice. You don’t have to be an Einstein but you must be willing to sacrifice something to get what you want. You cannot cut school, read comic books all day and expect an “A” in algebra. Anyone can start a project, but only those who are willing to sacrifice can see their dreams come true. Einstein was once expelled from school because he could not master mathematics. Today, thousands have acquired doctoral degrees studying Einstein’s theories. If you are unwilling to sacrifice to achieve your dream, shift gears and reach for something for which you are willing to shed a little blood. There is no free lunch, never has been, never will be. Don’t seek shortcuts. Shortcuts usually land people at dead-end streets. 3. Have a Plan. If you don’t have a road map, you will wind up somewhere, but it may not be where you wanted to go. Imagine building a house without architectural plans. So it is with life. You cannot plan as you go. Put your goals on paper and do something daily to inch you closer to your destination. Remember, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. 4. Have the Guts to Stick to the Plan to the Better End. Once you start a project it will take guts to see it to the finish line. Don’t ever give up on your dream. Work the plan. More than 50% of people who start their doctoral degree programs do not complete their dissertation. The old proverb may still be true, “All is well that ends well.” One of the most important principles of life that our schools can instill in the minds of students is that they must finish what they start. Seeing a task to the finish line is what distinguishes men from boys, women from girls and winners from losers.

Author’s Wish for You: May your conscience be offended when you give less than you can and achieve less than you are capable of achieving. May your mind look you right in the face and give you the evil eye if you choose to stay put at the foot of the hill when you have the ability to climb the mountain. Finally, may you enjoy the best of life, health and happiness, and may I find you smiling when I meet you at the top of the hill called Excellence. Happy journey!