excellence | The Caleb Barney Collection

Being true to yourself

Be true to yourself. Nowadays, people want to become famous just to be famous. It’s not because they’re necessarily striving to be great at anything or known for being excellent at their craft. They sell out – doing or saying things that don’t align with who they really are just to try to get more likes or to make a viral video.

If you are only putting out the content because you want to get as many likes as possible you need to take a look in the mirror. Why are you trying to impress people that you’ve never met and likely never will meet? If the work that you’re putting out into the world is not something you’re proud of, why do it? Don’t do things to impress a random person or say the something on social media because you think it will be accepted by the main stream. You should do, say, and create things because they matter to you.

The world is full of individuals. We are all unique and that’s what makes this such a wonderful place. Be the real you. You may offend some people or turn others off, but the people who like your actions? They’ll like the real you. And you’ll be able to form a deeper bond/connection with them than any of the shallow connections of getting a few likes on a post.

It’s about how you do things

Practice vs deliberate practice. Working out vs training. Going through the motions vs living intentionally.

You can become moderately good or even above average by consistently working on something. But if you’re just going through the motions and not deliberately following a plan to improve, you won’t reach your full potential and your progress will be much slower. Do you have a specific plan or are you just doing what you feel like doing that day?

Improving is partly just about “doing something” repeatedly as it relates to your goals. But that’s only a small part of the solution. The bigger part is practicing perfection. We will never achieve perfection, but the more we aim towards it, the closer we will get in chasing excellence.

Conversation – A Work In Progress

I’m introverted and generally very goal-oriented. I enjoy working hard and always staying busy. And with that, I feel that my conversational skills are often lacking. I am not big on small talk. I usually feel like I want to move onto the next thing on my checklist and that stopping to make casual conversation is unproductive. But it’s those conversations about “nothing” that help to build relationships and establish feelings of trust. It’s actually very productive (indirectly) if you can take the time to connect with others, as long as you’re still leaving time to complete other tasks (you can’t sit around and gossip all day). This has been one of my biggest social flaws ad is something I’m working to improve…

The key to improving in anything in life is first to be aware that you are deficient in an area. I’ve done that here. With conversational skills being the deficiency, I delve a little deeper into what I think makes up a good/great conversationalist. Basically, there are three parts to being a great conversationalist.

1. Asking the right questions

The first part is knowing what questions to ask. If you don’t know a person, their interests, etc., sometimes it can be difficult to strike up a conversation. But if you have a general understanding of how to start conversations (asking open-ended questions, usually about the person or a topic that the person has an opinion on) and you also have a vast knowledge of current events or miscellaneous information, this is a helpful start.

2. Be curious

After knowing what questions to ask, you have to actually ask those questions and be interested in the person’s response. You need to listen to what they’re saying and respond accordingly. If you’re interested and curious in what they are saying, this will naturally lead to more questions on your part. Give verbal or physical cues showing your interest. Don’t be over dramatic on this and don’t be fake about it, but if you’re actually interested in what they’re saying, encourage them to talk more.

3. Contribute to the conversation

The third part to be in a great conversationalist is to have interesting things to say and to be willing to share stories with others. If you have great stories to tell, but you are only giving people one word answers and not making it appear as if you’re open to have a conversation, they will shut down and try to look elsewhere. Or if you are asking them questions, but not adding to the conversation, it will seem more like an interrogation.

The key to excellence, greatness, and success

“Consistent, hard work gains success.” – Dwayne Johnson

There is a quote attributed to Aristotle that says, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”

Excellence, success, greatness…these are things to strive for, but you don’t achieve any of them with a single action. They come with consistent action towards your goals. Set goals, review them daily, and decide what are the most important actions you need to take today to bring you a little (or a lot) closer to your goals. What habits do you need to have in place?

A lot of us (myself included) get caught up with wanting to learn more. Learning is great. Gaining more knowledge is great. But it won’t get you anywhere near success if you don’t apply that knowledge and turn it into action. Don’t confuse reading with taking action towards your goals…yes, it could give you a good foundation. It can help you avoid making the same mistakes that others have made, but often we lie to ourselves saying that we are preparing to take action, when really we’re procrastinating.

Take consistent action everyday. Live purposely. Act intentionally. Success, excellence, and greatness will come if you are consistent with your actions, but if you’re not, you’ll miss the opportunity when it’s here.

Luck and work

“Care and diligence bring luck.” – Thomas Fuller

Sometimes, you have to make your own luck. It’s not always the case, and it doesn’t always come easy, but if you work hard at doing the right things and treating people the right way, good things often come to you.

If you feel like you’re unlucky, that just means you have to work harder and focus on the positives around you. The world isn’t out to get you. It just is what it is. It’s not going out of its way to hurt or help you. You have to work as hard as you can, controlling what you can, and let everything else fall into place.