It is a lot easier to talk the talk than walk the walk. This is especially true when it comes to quality, excellence, and crisp execution. Lots of organizations have nice slogans such as “It’s Performance That Counts,” many fewer live up to those words.

Why the shortfall between words, actions, and outcomes?

Assuming good faith, a major reason is that people often “pre-fail.” Pre-fail is when people set themselves up to deliver less than their best, less than what is desired or necessary.

Pre-fail is “I’ll try” vs. “I will.” Pre-fail is “It is no excuse but (insert excuse here).”

We fail at 100% of what we think we cannot do. Success is “I will succeed.” Period. No ifs, ands, or buts. If there is an “or” it is “or I will die trying.”

Listen to the actor Will Smith talk about his work ethic. Over and over again he uses the phrase “or I will die trying.” Smith says, “You and I step onto treadmills; I will not step off first. I may die trying but I will NOT step off first.”

Argue for your weakness and it is yours. Think you can, think you can’t, you’re right!

Closing quotes:

“Much good work is lost for the lack of a little more.” — Edward H. Harriman

“The difference between try and triumph is a little umph.” — Unknown

“When I was young, I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures. So I did ten times more work.” — George Bernard Shaw