“Set high standards for yourself and don’t settle for anything less. You are the best judge of yourself and your capabilities.” – Tony Robbins
Raising your standards simply means asking for better in life. A better job, a better life partner, a better house, and so on.
It is a matter of demanding nothing but the best. This is not to be confused with covetous desire or keeping up with the Joneses. Raising your standards is all about living up to your full potential instead of being a cog in the machinery.
- You give your best
When you demand more of yourself, excellence is your default setting. It doesn’t matter what job you are in you will give it your all.
During the recent pandemic, we have seen more people than ever choosing not to work and instead of receiving welfare for sitting at home, despite the fact that thousands of companies are hiring.
When your standards are high, you will have pride in yourself and know that you can do better than whiling your time away at home unproductively.
If you are in a dead-end job that neither inspires you nor affords you a comfortable lifestyle, you do whatever is in your power to start your own business and be your own boss. Or you’ll level up your skills and find a better job.
You deserve better and you know it.
- You see yourself the way you wish to be
People with high standards see themselves as winners. You will notice that this is a common trait found in most top performers whether they are Olympic athletes or hard-nosed businessmen.
They see themselves winning the gold or raking in the profits – even when they have not achieved anything yet. They believe they can because they feel that they deserve it. And life often gives them what they ask for.
- You conduct yourself better
When your standards are high, you do not fritter your time on trivialities. Your time and energy are precious and you harness them productively to achieve your goals. You conduct yourself better and success finds you.
- You have no time for time wasters
With high standards, your circle of friends will consist of positive people who are winners in their own right. Successful entrepreneurs hang out with other successful entrepreneurs. Athletes hang out with other athletes.
Successful people avoid the naysayers, haters, argumentative people on social media and other toxic people who sap their energy. There is no return in that.
Your mental state must be positive and focused on what matters. You have no time for trivial issues because you ask more for yourself. Interactions should be entertaining, informative, and even beneficial to your business.
Debating over politics or the latest media talking point which is designed to stir negative emotions is too low for you. Your standards are higher than that.
- Life gives you what you ask of it
In the Bible (Matthew 7:7), the verse states, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Whether you are a Christian or of another religion or an atheist, this verse is profound and a principle of life. The higher your standards are, the more you’ll get out of life.
You will not stop working and trying to improve your life. Your efforts will yield fruit and you will progress. For example, if you’re working a minimum wage job and making R70 an hour, your standards will make you uncomfortable earning a low wage.
You will study whatever you need to and work on improving your situation until you are earning more. Over time, you will progress and one day, you will be earning triple or even quadruple what you used to make at the minimum wage job.
The same applies to other situations. If you are 60 pounds overweight, high standards will mean that you clean up your diet, exercise daily, and shed the pounds until you reach your ideal weight. If you have even higher standards, you may engage in weight training and build a toned, muscular body that turns heads.
There is no limit as to how far you can go when the standards you hold yourself to are high.
As you improve in life through your own effort, you will develop a healthy sense of self-esteem and more confidence. Success breeds success. You will have better self-discipline… and this will translate into you achieving wins even faster.
This is why high-performance individuals keep winning. It is almost as if they have the Midas touch. In reality, what they have are high standards which have caused them to have excellent habits and self-discipline which keeps them winning.
So, ask more of yourself and of life. You can transform your life if you are willing to step outside your comfort zone and go after what you want without settling for less.
