How to raise your standards

STANDARDS…

What are they? I’m not talking about standard poodles or the gold standard. I’m talking about the standard from which you operate; the way you measure what is and is not acceptable to you.

Here’s an example. Gina has a high standard when it comes to her appearance. She is groomed to the gills and would never think of leaving the house anything less than 100 percent impeccably pressed. Jimmy, on the other hand, could give a crap. It’s all he can do to locate a pair of jeans on his bedroom floor and throw on that T-shirt he found wadded up at the bottom of his dirty laundry hamper. Gina has a very high standard; Jimmy, not so much.

You have a personal and professional standard that you apply to everything you do. I encourage you to triple these standards and operate from a standard of excellence.

This means striving to do better and achieve more in your life. Ask yourself this: Do you complete work? Do you surround yourself with people who nourish your spirit and intellect? Do you address discrepancies and concerns on the spot?

Good isn’t good enough, either. You need to consistently exceed expectations and continually raise the bar for excellence. In this way, you’ll always generate results.

Here’s an exercise to help identify your current standards:

What is the standard you have set for yourself?

Are you living up to it?

Does it need to be higher?

Are you proactive in your life, or are you just coasting along waiting to see what will happen next?

Five easy ways to raise your standards:

1. Stop tolerating what you don’t like.

Be selfish. Put up with very little. Train others to do it your way or to your satisfaction. You can accommodate and compromise, of course, but don’t drop your standards or shrink your boundaries. Tolerating and productivity don’t mix.

2. Keep your word.

Under-promise if you have to, in order to make sure you do what you say you will. Keep the integrity in your life; enjoy living on the PLUS side of the performance ledger. Productivity increases naturally under these conditions.

3. Beef up systems.

The ultimate in productivity is when you set up a system that causes things occur without any effort from you. In other words, automate and systematize, so that results occur by themselves, through others, or by computer. Reinvent your approach in order to handle the increasing abundance in your work and personal life.

4. Reject requests.

Say, “No.” Or when saying, “Yes,” is going to burden you, negotiate to make the terms as favorable as possible.

5. Commit to raising your standards daily.

Take an honest look at whatever it is that you are doing and make the commitmentment to go the extra mile. Commit to stretching yourself and doing the best you possibly can.