MAKE EXCELLENCE YOUR GOAL

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was a Spanish painter. He was one of the greatest and most influential artists of the twentieth century. He is reported to have said: “When I was a child my mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general. If you become a monk, you’ll be the Pope.’” Picasso followed this advice until he emerged as one of the greatest artists of his times.

 

This advice of Picasso’s mother was the best advice that a mother can give to her child. In other words, the advice was: Make excellence your goal. When a person adopts excellence as his goal, he develops a very noble quality in his personality—he exerts all his energies towards achieving success. He accepts nothing less than the best. He saves himself from all kinds of distractions. His thinking is focused. He inculcates the spirit of competition. He becomes very selective in his activities utilizing all his time without losing a single moment. This goal is bound to develop the spirit of self-development in a person. It inculcates the spirit of high thinking. All these qualities are positive qualities. Without utilizing these positive qualities, a person will not be able to achieve his goal.

 

The well-known Indian scientist Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam and former President of India, has rightly said: “Excellence is a continuous process and not an accident.” One who adopts excellence as his goal, automatically becomes a different person. He inculcates a strong spirit of achieving his goal. He, consciously or unconsciously, becomes aware of the fact that excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.

 

If someone wants to become a doctor, he will naturally choose to take up medical education. Similarly, in the case of the above person: one who wants to achieve the best in any discipline, will automatically try to do one’s best in order to achieve excellence in the chosen field.

 

This goal of excellence is not the same as developing the kind of mentality known as a superiority complex. A superiority complex is generally based on one’s past glory. While the spirit of excellence motivates one to achieve in the future that which he does not possess at present. This goal develops in a person the spirit of hard work and self-development par excellence. It becomes a motivating force to achieve great heights of success.