And that become a habit. We look for short cuts all the time. We compromise. We dont push ourselvesto succeed; we merely set ourselves the objective of not failing.We dont play to win. We just want to avoid losing.

And so we love tips like "If you study these three sections,you can get 35 marks". Or 'if you attend classes twice  a week, you wont be in the black list'. Unfortunately, this attitude pervades our life and becomes a habit. We stop striving for the greatness that we are all and capable of.And as someone rightly said, "Good is the enemy of Great".

There once lived a sculptor in a small town.He was working on a huge idol of a Goddess that he was making for the local temple, when a young man walked into his workshop. As the young man marveles at the idol,he suddenly noticed another idol, almost identical,lying on the ground. "Do you need two of these?" he asked.

"No",came the reply. "We need only one. But first one got damages in the finishing stage.Hence Im doing it again".

The young man looked closely at the idol on the ground.It looked perfect.He couldnt see any signs of damage. "Where is the flaw?" he asked. "Look carefully", said the sculptor,"and you will notice a scratch under the left eye". "Wait a minute!" said the young man. "Where will this idol be installed?"

The sculptor explained that it would be on a platform fifteen feet high inside the temple. And the young manquickly retorted,"At that distance, who will know  there is a scartch beneath the eye?".  The sculptor smiled and said "I WILL".

Now, that's a good reminder of what excellence is all about. It comes from inside,not from outside. And it's an attitude.One we would all do well to inculate.

Commit to doing your best at all times. Dont compromise, ever. Whatever you do,give off hundred percent.Aim to be the best at whatever you do. And do that not because someone else tells you to do it-but because YOU want to.

And make sure you always,always do the right thing.Dont tell yourself it's okay,no one will notice. Remember,someone is watching all the time.And that someone is you. Your character is defined not by how you behave when you know others are watching-but by what you do when no one is looking.

If you create an idol with a scratch and think no one will notice, you will soon find another scratch appearing in your work and then another.And you will spend time and effort hiding those scratches,covering up,hoping no one notices. And instead of becoming a master sculptor,you become a patch-up artist. And your life-instead of becoming a masterpiece-becomes just another flawed piece of work. And in either case, what makes the differece is not the skill. It's always your attitude.

Get the sculptor's attitude.Commit to excellence.And make your life a masterpiece.