"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them".

- Henry David Thoreau

Choose Excellence. Otherwise, Mediocrity just shows up in its place.

If there is one thing that separates the few who reach excellence, from the masses that wallow in mediocrity, it is this: A willingness to go beyond one's limitations, by operating outside a level of safety and comfort.

To embrace excellence, we must shun mediocrity, despising it as a sinister enemy and guarding against its intrusion into our attitudes and endeavors. As the late Jamie Buckingham wrote, "The risk-free life is a victory-free life. It means lifelong surrender to the mediocre. And that is the worst of all defeats."

You must actively REJECT MEDIOCRITY.

If you do not ACTIVELY REJECT mediocrity, you are unwittingly choosing it over excellence-and will be traveling down a road littered with broken dreams and failed expectations. Put simply, you are unwittingly choosing Mediocrity over Excellence.  ER Haas - CEO of ThinkTQ, Inc. lists 10 choices you must make each day, each hour, even each minute, to GUARANTEE that you are on the road to GREATNESS... rather than heading down the road to MEDIOCRITY:

1.      Choose to be ENERGETIC-instead of permitting yourself to become run-down and burned-out.

2.      Choose to be PASSIONATE-instead of permitting yourself to become aimless, apathetic and indifferent.

3.      Choose to be ENTHUSIASTIC-instead of permitting yourself to become half-hearted and discouraged.

4.      Choose to be SELF-DIRECTED-instead of permitting yourself to become directionless and uncertain.

5.      Choose to be PREPARED-instead of permitting yourself to become shortsighted and reactive.

6.      Choose to be FOCUSED-instead of permitting yourself to become scattered and impulsive.

7.      Choose to be SUPPORTIVE-instead of permitting yourself to become critical and judgmental.

8.      Choose to be SYSTEMATIC-instead of permitting yourself to become haphazard and disorganized.

9.      Choose to be TIMELY-instead of permitting yourself to become distracted and preoccupied.

10.    Choose to be PROACTIVE-instead of permitting yourself to become procrastinating and hesitant.

 "Mediocrity always attacks excellence." - Michael Beckwith