How I Hold Myself To A Higher Standard

Something I really pride myself on is that I hold myself to a high standard. It’s something a lot of people talk about but many fail to do because they don't have all the pieces they need in place to fulfill it.

First, holding yourself to a higher standard requires clarity on what that standard is. You can’t expect to hit a target if you don’t know what to aim for. Second is you need to be disciplined - to reject distractions, vices, and impulses that try to pull you off track. And last, you need to reflect and measure your performance so you can compare how you did against the intention. It’s a process I go through daily in my Self Improvement Scorecard, and it’s changed my life.

But standards aren’t meant to be as rigid as they appear to be. I have an issue with the idea of things being ‘non-negotiable’ because that always reaches some breaking point where what you committed to does more harm than good, and it doesn't actually serve you. And if that’s the case at the furthest level, isn’t it also true on a smaller level?

So this is my approach to it. I have two clearly defined standards for myself: A ‘High Standard’ that represents my ideal performance in an area of my life, and a ‘Minimum Standard’ that represents the smallest meaningful commitment I want to be held accountable to.

From there, with those two in place, every day I set my intention for the day. Life happens, there are situations that call for changes in plan, and rather than being set up for failure I can adjust my approach.

For example, the ‘High Standard’ I have for my fitness is to exercise every single day to a sweat for at least 30 minutes, including at least 10 minutes of cardio. My minimum standard is that I complete 15 minutes of dedicated movement, could be a walk, bodyweight workout, or time at the gym.

Now what if a day calls for something else and I can’t dedicate the 30 minutes to hitting my high standard? Does that mean I just have to accept that I’m going to fall short for a day?

What I choose to do is, given everything on my plate for that day, set an intention for what my ideal ‘exercise plan’ is and hold myself accountable to executing that. Could be a day I have a cross country flight and I’m up at 4 am. … I commit to only doing a 15 minute walk. Or on a day when I’m recovering from being sick, I choose to take a rest day.

When I do that, my intention becomes my standard for the day, and I use my pre-defined standards as a reference point to determine how I want to show up. In my opinion, when you forecast your day and make a ‘meaningful exception’ to the rule, that’s not making an excuse… It’s being intentional about knowing what you want to do in advance.

These aren’t just words. This is a process I complete daily in my Self Improvement Scorecard. And if you want to check it out, watch the video I made showing you how it works.

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