twinsthumbnail.jpgWhat is the difference between greatness and mediocrity?

“The difference between the two is very small. It’s less that one makes 90% good decisions and the other makes 10% good decisions. They probably make about 50% of each, but the difference is that the executives who excel tend to maybe more quickly recognize which 50% are which and have the humility to admit to the wrong 50% and do something…about it.” (Excerpted from “There is No Elevator to the Top – A Leading Headhunter Shares the Advancement Strategies of the World’s Most Successful Executives,” by Ukesh Ramakrishnan)

The difference between living an ordinary life and an extraordinary life, from producing common results to producing uncommon results is SMALL. The good news is that the difference is not mainly IQ, or raw intelligence.

No, it is in your personality, your perseverance, your willingness to learn continuously, to have the humility to continually re-invent yourself to meet a changing world. Obviously, if you think you are perfect just the way you are, if you think you’ve got it down pat and the rest of the world is clueless, if your sense of self awareness is on the blink and been that way for the last 5 years, then you see no need to change, to grow, to learn, to re-invent yourself.

Emotional intelligence is INCREDIBLY valuable and, fortunately, while we are somewhat stuck with our math and verbal based IQ level, anyone can raise can raise his or her EQ. Self knowledge is yours for the seeking. The difference is small, but it is an incredibly important difference.

Your life, your choices.