“Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anyone else expects of you. Never excuse yourself.” – Henry Ward Beecher
Why is that we are so good at demanding the best from others, yet when it comes to ourselves we always give ourselves more slack?
We allow excuses to take over our lives and hold us back. We then use those same excuses to explain why we haven‘t been able to achieve the success that we desire.
It’s not surprising that we try to go a little easier on ourselves since we already feel pressured and overwhelmed by our obligations and the expectations of others.
However, while the demands of life can deplete our resources, demanding more from ourselves can actually add more to who we are.
The harder we work on ourselves, and the more excellence we demand from our actions, the more focused we will be and the better people we will be because of it.
Demanding the best from ourselves is not the same as expecting perfection or never being satisfied with our progress. It’s not about being unreasonable with ourselves or trying to push ourselves beyond our true capabilities.
Demanding the best from ourselves is about being honest about our capabilities, about learning how to stretch our limits and refusing to buy into excuses that limit our true potential.
It’s about recognizing our strengths, honoring our accomplishments, and always striving for greater success in all areas of our lives.
Today, take a look at your own accomplishments, and assess your true strengths. Have you been pushing yourself as hard as you can? Or have you been slacking off because it seems like too much work to step out of your comfort zones?
Have you been drifting aimlessly along, resting on your laurels, rather than striving for bigger dreams?
If you are honest with yourself, you may realize that you have not been pushing yourself as hard as you could, and therefore you haven’t accomplished as much as you are truly capable of.
Changing this is as simple as demanding the best from yourself, beginning right now. When you demand the best from yourself in everything you do, you’ll soon realize that your results will be nothing but the best.
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