Finding Your Excellence

By Angela Levesque

Everyone is excellent, but many people can’t see it because so much time is spent under the weight of other people’s expectations. In a world where daily activities become fodder for social media, it becomes easy to lose your individual voice and sense of excellence. Your worth becomes subject to other people’s interpretations of it. Finding your excellence is more than just being confident; it is much more intrinsic. Instead of shining a spotlight on your greatness for the world to see, let your inner light illuminate you from the inside out. Free yourself from expectations and instant gratification and just be you. There is nothing more attractive or beautiful than when someone speaks her own truth and truly knows how worthy she is.

Excellence: Getting Out of the Box

An important part of finding your excellence is to understand that we live in a world of boxes. At a luncheon or a conference, the first thing we do when we meet someone new is ask their name and the dreaded question, “What do you do?” In that instant we take a vast, beautiful, mind, body and soul being of light and squeeze him down into a tiny, bite sized box. It is not as if any person can be explained simply by his job or role.

There are many reasons why we do this. It is a cheap and easy way to ‘categorize’ who the person is. The category is then deemed acceptable or not acceptable based on their previous experience. This is how our brains work. You may have had only good experiences with lawyers before, so when you meet someone who says he is a lawyer, you interpret that as good. But if you just went through a bad divorce, that person might already have a strike against her in your mind. This is where prejudices and stereotypes stem from.

However, there are some instances where these boxes are needed out of necessity. The physician needs to put his patients in the patient box to ensure that the standard of care is met and also to maintain a level of self-preservation. So knowing that the world is full of boxes, it becomes even more important that we find our excellence. If we are not careful, we can let these boxes define us and limit our potential. We need to be self-aware and know who we are; otherwise, we might let others determine that for us.

Feedback is Great, but Not Necessary

We all know how good it feels to get a virtual thumb’s up, however this constant feedback on what we say and do, can take us away from whom we truly are. This leads to what I like to call the Chameleon Syndrome, which is changing our words and actions depending on the audience. Do you ever find yourself doing something just so you can post it? Finding your true voice is a challenge under these circumstances. Those who use their own voice find that more people are drawn to them and not just the highlight reel of their lives. When you do something because it is aligned with your essence and not your ego; that is where you find your purpose. So, take stock of your virtues. Look at the roles you play in life, not as a way to define you, but to understand what you are good at. It is not the roles themselves, but what makes you good at those roles, that represent your virtues.

Then, find ways to express those virtues in your daily life. This could be through your parenting, work, volunteering or in your relationships. When those parts of you have the opportunity to flourish, then you are living a life with purpose. There is no better testament to your excellence than this. There is no one right way to live; there is only the best way for you. Much of life doesn’t give immediate confirmation if we are on the right path. So, we need to be able to engage in life without that feedback. The only thing we can do is to always do our best. If we do this, we can be confident that the world has changed for the better by letting our own essence lead the way.

Excellence: Embrace Your Mistakes

Most people don’t intentionally make mistakes, so we need to remember that our best doesn’t mean perfection. It means that we did the best that we could do based on the information and resources available to us at the time. Our best can shift depending on the situation at hand. For example, our best when suffering from the flu is different than when we are healthy and well-rested. Instead of judging ourselves for that disparity, embrace it and enjoy it as part of our humanness. If you look at the people who you admire in your life, ask whether or not you admire them because of their perfection. They probably have some quirk or uniqueness that makes them so likeable. This aspect has given them the depth and personality that allows you to resonate so deeply with them. In other words, they have found their voice; they have embraced their excellence. Many people who we admire have overcome their mistakes, learned from them and moved on to bigger and better things.

Enjoy Your Successes

A crucial part of finding your own excellence is to give yourself credit for your successes. We often move from one thing to the next without really appreciating our accomplishments. Sometimes, we don’t even see the successes. The more self-aware we become, the more aware we are of moving out of alignment with the things we would like to shift. Often, this is seen as failure. For example, maybe you have been paying attention to your negative self-talk. When that happens, you become more aware of it; you are under the illusion that you do it more often that you actually do. In reality, you are probably doing it much less. Now that your level of awareness is elevated, it just becomes more uncomfortable for you when you do it. This is a sign of success.

Striking a Balance

It is all about perspective; take notice of your successes. We make incremental improvements and we don’t even realize how far we’ve come. Life is art. It is a painting in constant creation; there isn’t a single point on the map that says success. There is no plateau, because excellence isn’t a place; it is a state of being.

In the world of social media, we can lose ourselves. Finding your excellence can bring you joy and purpose far more than a thumb’s up. Perfection lasts but a moment and only if you are paying attention. Owning your excellence is true knowledge of your self-worth. It can’t be taken away from you, put in a box or left up to interpretation. So, take stock of your virtues, enjoy your successes and always do your best. Let your light shine from the inside out.

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About the Author

Angela Levesque is a writer, healer and host of Entanglement Radio on iOM.fm. She works with clients doing intuitive lifestyle coaching, energy healing, awareness development and mind/body weight loss. Angela also teaches several classes on self-care and is the author of Healing Environment: The Conscious Creation of Health Visit www.hestiahealth.com for more information.