“If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it’s a prevailing attitude.”

                                                                                            - General Colin Powell

Each martial arts class I teach ends with the same question posed to my students, “What’s our goal?”

With enthusiasm they respond in unison, “Black Belt Excellence, sir!”

In the martial arts, the concept of excellence is a reminder that our intention is to always do our best and to show up as the highest expression of ourselves in attitude, focus and action in everything we do.  We know when we do this, more times than not, good things are bound to happen. 

To be clear, I am talking about excellence, not perfection. 

We are all human and despite our best efforts, things may not turn out as we intend.  For many of us, the pressure we place upon ourselves to be perfect, not only leads to agitation an...