Messi’s dribbling skills, Rishab Pant’s hook shot, Michael Jacksons moon walk to name a few leaves me spell bound. Excellence in any field, be it sports, art or vocation, draws my admiration for it illustrates the best of human nature. I am a passionate student of methods to attain excellence, driven by my yet unattained desire for personal excellence. This search led me to the E.G.O. principle for building a practice for attaining excellence. This principle is not just applicable to individuals, but it applies equally for teams too.
Often EGO has a negative connotation associated with arrogance and selfish behaviour but in this instance, the acronym E.G.O. contains the ingredients to build a practise for excellence. The short journey of Practice to Practise, from the noun to the verb is travelled in the vehicle of E.G.O. E.G.O the acronym stands for Excellence, Goal-oriented and Organic. Practise for Excellence translates to intentional repetition of a set of interrelated acts with a focus on refinement to achieve Excellence, in a Goal-oriented activity, to make the practise Organic, i.e. a second nature of the individual or organisation.
Excellence has multiple ingredients and one of its essential inputs is to satisfy the inner needs of the individual or the team irrespective of external recognition or rewards associated with it. This urge for excellence is most visible in the standards of performance that the individual set for themselves. A distinguishing feature of the set standards is an intrinsic good that is valued its own sake.
Goal orientation i.e. a defined target is the second ingredient for excellence as practise. Initially it starts with a broader target area, and as the individual gain mastery, the focus narrows down to minute details of the task that often escapes the laypersons attention. Gradually as the mastery over one task is achieved, the individual shifts their attention to other adjoining areas expanding their domain of excellence.
Organic is what embeds excellence in an individual and makes it their second nature. The true test for an organic habit is that it becomes a reflex action, that combines the three Is, Instinctive, Involuntary and Instantaneous response to the situation. This is more often visible in artists and athletics who perform complex manoeuvres leaving us spellbound.
Experts and experience tell us that we cannot just give up a bad habit. But a bad habit can be easily replaced with a good one. My endeavor is to replace the much-detested EGO with E.G.O. that is a must to pursue excellence. Make my play time, my perfection time.
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