Quotes about Excellence

Bill Gates' Success Factors for Microsoft 1. Long-term Approach 2. Passion for Products and Technology 3. Teamwork 4. Results 5. Customer Feedback 6. Individual Excellence

Since day one, since the first time I touched the pen, I wanted to be the best at what I do.

Life's too short to fight the forces of change. Life's too short to hate what you do all day. Life's way too short to make mediocre stuff.

Mediocre is merely a failed attempt to be really good.

The next time you catch yourself being average when you feel like quitting, realize that you have only two good choices: Quit or be exceptional. Average is for losers.

Great work is not created for everyone. If it were, it would be average work.

On top of this, if you do great work you gain the reward of knowing you're doing great work. Your day snaps into alignment with your dreams, and you no longer have to pretend you're mediocre. You're free to contribute.

Sometimes, we're so focused on being consistent that we also lower the bar on amazing.

You really can't try to do everything, especially if you intend to be the best in the world.

It's Almost Impossible to Overinvest in Becoming the Market Leader.

We hire for perfect, we manage for perfect, we measure for perfect, and we reward for perfect. So why are we surprised that people spend their precious minutes of self-directed, focused work time trying to achieve perfect? The problem is simple: Art is never defect-free. Things that are remarkable never meet spec, because that would make them standardized, not worth talking about. Rough

Quitting is difficult. Quitting requires you to acknowledge that you're never going to be #1 in the world. At least not at this. So it's easier just to put it off, not admit it, settle for mediocre.