Excellence - By Guest Blogger Bill McLellan (L.E.A.D. Board Chairman)

L.E.A.D.'s Elementary School Character Development Series

Excellence – the quality of being outstanding or superior

In my experience, those who have reached a level of excellence have several things in common. Check out my list below and see if you possess some or all of these attributes.

1. If you want to achieve excellence in anything, start with a simple decision and a belief that you can do it, so you must trust in yourself and in your abilities. Think “I Can”.  Make this decision for yourself right now. 
2. To achieve excellence, do what you love, something for which you have a true passion.  
3. Don't get discouraged when you are not great at something right away. Nobody is excellent at anything the first time they try to do it.  
4. To achieve excellence, you must keep trying and push pass failures and setbacks; you must keep going. 
5. To achieve excellence, you must set goals, and WRITE YOUR GOALS DOWN.  Goals must also be put on a calendar, or be achievable within a specific timeframe.  A goal without a date is a wish. 
6. To achieve excellence, seek expert advice from qualified sources (some call this feedback or networking). Surround yourself with other excellent people so you can ask them for guidance and support while you are working to reach your goals. 
7. To achieve excellence, ALWAYS give your best effort EVERY TIME. There are many things out of your control, but two things you can ALWAYS CONTROL are your ATTITUDE and your EFFORT
8. Lastly, if you want to achieve excellence, then never stop trying to get better.  Even after you get pretty good at something, you must still try to get better. 

How will you know when you've reached excellence? You will know when you reach your goals; that's why it's important to set goals. The goals that you set must be S.M.A.R.T. For your homework, research what S.M.A.R.T. goals are and report back to Coach CJ when you find out. 

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Bill McLellan

 (I'm the tallest guy in the photo)