Commitment to Excellence

During my “down” time in a day, I search for some kind of inappropriate material on the internet to send friends via email or social pages. The usual disgusting stuff to send out was not inviting to me this day, when I hit the “search” button for the Oakland Raiders. Another one of the contributors here, who I won’t name (Clint Darden), is a HUGE fan of the Raiders, and I was looking to send him a message with the Raider emblem attached. The Raiders have a statement that goes along with the Pirate with the patch and crossed swords; it says “Commitment to Excellence.”

“Commit to Excellence” has been on my mind and stirs me to the point I haven’t been able to let it go.

“Commit to Excellence” instead of what?

For me, sports was a way of life from my earliest child memories. Neither my mother nor father was an athlete. So, it wasn’t like there was some sort of “legacy” that we have in a lot of communities today. But, my Mom did make me go outside and play.

Side rambling here: I was never allowed to watch T.V. growing up. Every time I turned it on, my Mother called from the other room, “Turn that off and go outside and play.” Back then we didn’t have to worry about kids getting kidnapped. Heck, I was such a pain in the ass; the thief would have gladly paid my parents to take me back. Anyway, one morning (I always got up early) I quietly snuck into the living room, turned on the T.V., grabbed some Captain Crunch cereal, and planned on hunkering down for some cartoons. The only thing on at that time of the morning was an OLD Claymation children’s Christian show, called “Davey and Goliath.” That’s when I heard my mom’s tiny feet coming into the room. She was 4'11" and 89 pounds of FURY. “WHAT are you doing?" she asked. “Watching some T.V., mom,” I said. She then tells me the standard, “Go outside and play.” I retort with, “Mom, its 4:30 in the morning. It’s DARK outside.” My mom, who has her application approved for Sainthood, then tells me, “Take a flashlight with you.” We both laughed. I still laugh.

So, back to my point, with all the playing done outside, against all the opponents the neighborhood would send, or imaginary pro’s that could be defeated by this 7-year-old, somewhere along the evolution, we started adding POINTS to the game. Do-overs became a thing of the past, and there were JUDGES or REFEREES to keep the rules enforced. There came a time that winning and losing were kept track of.

We have become now, "Committed to WINNING."

Don’t get me wrong, when told that losing teaches you things, my response is and always will be, “I’d rather win and be ignorant, than lose and be a genius,” but we lost the Commitment to Excellence to be replaced by the Commitment to Winning.

What if we would go about our lives with the idea of improving ourselves in all the areas that make up our life, instead of just winning, or surviving?

What if we increased our physical fitness daily (a good place to start, since you're reading this on a strength and conditioning site), our financial fitness, and our social AND emotional fitness, turning each opportunity into a CHANCE to better ourselves?

Physically, we can see the improvements whether it's increasing our personal records or improvements in stamina. We can see if we gain or lose weight while reducing fat.

Financially, we can check our accounts vs. the debt we’ve incurred. We can seek employment or get a better one. Perhaps we could pursue our PASSION at the same time you're making a contribution and not a withdrawal.

Socially, we can commit to expanding our circle of influence and becoming a friend that a friend would like to have. At this moment I witnessed, first hand, that the majority of the people I know will do things ONLY because there's something in it for THEM. I made it my quest, to do things for people so that my take will be the feeling of helping and that I might have added some type of benefit to their lives unconditionally.

Emotionally, gathering an attitude that is rid of the negative "stinkin’ think’n" that seems to draw people into its bowels. Looking for what IS available and not what IS NOT.

Committing the excellence in all of our relationships and making the bonds tighter.

I hypothesize that by Committing to Excellence FIRST, the WINNING will follow.

I would love to hear feedback not on the content of this article, but ideas YOU have about the Commitments you can make to Excellence. I believe that those ideas will be the true article on the topic of “Commitment to Excellence.”