Quest for Perfection

This is a post I began writing about 2 years ago, then never finished and it has been sitting in my draft bin for all that time. Funny since the post is about progression, but here you go.


With the end of summer and the beginning of school the time has come once again to turn over a new leaf. Shake off the urge to play all night and sleep all day. Turn away the temptation to procrastinate work and shirk all responsibility.
I always love the fall season. Colorful leaves, start of school, busy schedules, a sense of purpose, football games, crisp air, the promise of Thanksgiving and Christmas vacations on the horizon, and plenty of social events to keep us busy on the nights and weekends.
Fall seems to be the busiest time of year for me, and each year I am struck with an urge to perfect myself in as many ways as possible. The trend has been such that this really only happens to me twice a year (now and New Years), I am becoming much better at making and sticking with my goals.
Something I realized that has helped me to accomplish this has been to look at the bigger picture, then hone in on the small everyday things that are sometimes so hard for us to do. Here is what I came up with. I call this my Chart of Excellence.

Because I am such a linear thinker this helps me to organize my priorities. I have divided my life into 5 different categories. Social, Educational, Spiritual, Financial and Physical. I have found that some of these areas I am lacking in and others I am excelling in, but there is always room for improvement. I have also divided each category into sub-categories for a more precise definition of the areas I need to work on. From there I have honed in even further and set goals for how I would like to perfect myself in each area, such as the following:



I get quite a bit of satisfaction out of organizing my life and using my time more efficiently to do productive things. John Bytheway gave a talk once called "Get off the Couch and Get a Life" where he told a story about his decision to do something he had always wanted to do: write a book. During his busy college life he decided that he was going to trade his least productive hours between 10 and midnight watching television, with what would be his most productive hours, 6-8 am to write his book. He said there were mornings that he did not want to get up but it all became worth it when he walked into Deseret Book and saw his book up for sale on the shelf. 

Not many things can compare to the feeling of accomplishing something hard. It's no wonder to me why that is so because our entire purpose to be on this earth is to progress, change and become more like our Father in Heaven. We are meant to go through trials that stretch our capabilities and comfort zones. Think of it this way: Our goal is to climb a mountain. In order to accomplish this we must go up, against the force of gravity amidst all the thorns and the weeds and the bushes with nothing but our own two legs to carry us. As we climb we come across some difficult situations that take careful consideration and help to get through, but we somehow manage it even though it might take a little more time than we would have wished. Over time as we continue the climb, our muscles build strength and the obstacles we encounter become less daunting. Our capacity to do the things that before seemed so difficult increases steadily, and the higher we go, the more beautiful the view. We look down on all the world and can see clearly all the hustle and bustle of the city below. We see a lost car driving around in a neighborhood and we can see exactly where it has been and all the options ahead of it. We may not know which path the car will take, but we can see where each path will lead. Because we have made the decision to make the climb we have achieved foresight. We now have the knowledge to help others that stand in need. Our vision has expanded and our understanding increased.