THE WHAT IF, GUITAR GUY BLOG
The Official Blog of Mike Rayburn
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It’s All About the Hair… What Cleaning Bathrooms, the Statue of Liberty and Bohemian Rhapsody Have In Common
Years ago when the first helicopter flew over the Statue Of Liberty they saw something they hadn’t expected. The attention to detail on Lady Liberty’s hair was exquisite, just as amazing as the rest of her.
The thing is, Lady Liberty was created in the 1870’s, dedicated in 1886. Flight had not been invented. Liberty is half a football field high. The artist had to know no on
e would ever see her hair, yet he still spent countless weeks, months, or years perfecting just her hair. Crazy, right?
So, let me ask you, are you that dedicated to excellence? If not, don’t complain about your lack of results, it’s your own fault.
Please consider the following questions very seriously… What “minor” details of your job do you let slide? What about your relationships? Your health? Your spiritual life? Your finances? Your ethics?
The way you do anything is the way you do everything. If you’re a jerk in one relationship you’ll be a jerk in others. If you cheat on your taxes, you’ll
cheat elsewhere.
I believe much of the despair people experience is caused by doing mediocre work in a job they don’t care for. They tell themselves they’ll do better when they get a job they like more… but that’s backwards. First you become excellent at whatever you’re doing, then you get to move up to something you like more. Excellence is who you are.
“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.” -Steve Jobs
The coolest thing about excellence is that it’s a 100% non-discriminating opportunity for everyone. Anyone can be excellent, and everyone who is benefits. All it requires is the decision to live to a high standard, and unceasing effort toward that standard.
In my last “real” job I was a janitor, laborer, I made windows and drove a forklift. For some reason, when I cleaned that nasty lumberyard/millworker bathroom I just decided I’d make it as sparkling clean as possible. Now, this isn’t one of those… “and I went on to own the company” stories. It just seemed right. http://briankraker.com/testmikerayburn/wp-admin/media-upload.php?post_id=1837&type=image&TB_iframe=1
But now? I absolutely believe that being able to pull off Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Bohemian Rhapsody and The Devil Went Down To Georgia on one guitar is directly related to the way I cleaned that bathroom. And that’s just my application, every one of us has a comparable opportunity in our own area of expertise, the opportunity of excellence.
Dedicate your life to excellence. Become a life Virtuoso. You’ll be SO glad you did!
Please share this with someone today.
Live truly, truly live,
