Are you striving for ease or excellence?
I read a book about Pixar this summer and came across a quote from the CEO, “Ease is not the goal, excellence is.” Reading that gave me a heart check. I had to look at my life and my objectives and ask if I was looking for things to be easy or challenging enough to make me better. I know that I look for the easy way out of things often instead of putting in the work to make me excellent.
I want you to look at yourself and ask if you are looking for ease or excellence.
Do you want something to be easy or do you want it to make you better?
Do you want to master a concept or understand it enough to get by?
Do you want to do the work or do you want others to do it for you?
The best aren’t looking for the easy way out. They put in hours of time and grit to be excellent. The best athletes in the nation aren’t trying to get through a workout without feeling pain. They put themselves through pain and fatigue because that is what makes them excellent. Excellence isn’t achieved by finding the easy way out. It is reached by choosing the hard path every day.
For Pixar, they can stick with the same plots and release similar movies year after year and do fine, but Pixar is known for top notch work. They take years on each movie and create an environment where everyone is expected to pursue excellence. It is easy for them to make sequels, such as Toy Story 2 or Incredibles 2. They have the characters already digitally designed and personalities developed. Pixar sets a limit on their sequels so they are challenged to create new and original work. That is why they are the best.
In your classes or jobs, are you doing the bare minimum work to make people happy or are you creating a new standard? You know what you are capable of. Are you reaching your potential? You know how much you are giving. Do you want to slide by with a low B or C in class or do you want to actually know the material? That’s up to you. It takes a heart check.
It’s easy to sit around and expect things to happen to you.
Are you going to take on the world and pursue excellence?
Are you going to shift from a comfortable mindset to one of growth?
Create your original movie, not just a sequel.
What can you do today that will make tomorrow easier?
You wake up every morning with a choice. Do you want today to be easy or excellent?
I appreciate you.
-JP