Vince Lombardi, the Hall of Fame football coach, once said, “Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.” And Lombardi is a man who certainly caught excellence!
Lombardi was the head football coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1959-1967. During this time, he led the team to three straight, and five total, NFL Championships. Lombardi never had a losing season as a head coach and his teams won an amazing 90% of their postseason games. This is a man who, as a coach, came pretty close to perfection. In fact, he is considered by many to be the greatest football coach of all time and one of the greatest coaches and leaders in the history of any sport.
It was Lombardi’s pursuit of perfection, even though he knew it was not attainable, that led to his coaching excellence. Think about that. He knew something was not attainable, but he pursued it anyway. Do you have the tenacity, the passion, the persistence, the grit, to pursue something you know you cannot attain?
It takes a strong, determined, and courageous person to pursue an unattainable goal. But if the process of chasing the goal makes you better, it’s probably worth the pain and effort. So go out and chase perfection. I have to warn you; you won’t catch it. But chase it anyway. If you end up just catching excellence, you’ll be in a really good place!
Thanks for reading,
Jim
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Jim Earle 