Demystifying Excellence:
Insight #1 — Identify Your Cornerstones
 

I started with Insight #1. I sat down and realized that my goals in life could really be honed down to five passions. I began to call these areas my cornerstones, and they’re still the same:
 

(1) I wanted to find the girl of my dreams, marry her, and make sure she knew that she was a goddess every day. I found her at the age of 19. More on that later.
(2) I wanted to write music. I turned to writing music with a passion, saying things in songs I couldn’t appropriately convey in real life. It cleanses my soul.
(3) I wanted to educate myself and others. Knowledge gave me a sense of power and the feeling that I might make a difference in the world.
(4) I wanted to play and coach soccer, because I was good at it, it was fun, and it reflected many of the core philosophies I value.
(5) I wanted to get to know all sorts of people. I began to reach out and befriend anybody who interested me, from the geeks to the jocks and the hippies to the conservatives and everyone in between. I wanted a colorful array of personalities in my life.
 

Identifying your cornerstones is the first step on the road to excellence. Keep in mind that nobody ever succeeds in fulfilling themselves long-term if their goal is “success.” You are not seeking success. You are seeking fulfillment and purpose by pursuing excellence in some combination of personal passions — soccer, music, mathematics, vampire slaying, whatever. The greatest thrill and fulfillment in life comes when you reach for your best, your most excellent, at your passions. It does not come in the award ceremony or the crying session after. That’s not where the daring and courage and superhuman adrenaline are present.
 
Read the next Chapter -> Insight #2 — Apply Your Time & Focus.
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