Dear friends,

Over the next several weeks, I will be sharing with you content from my interview with SUCCESS Magazine publisher, Darren Hardy.  A few months ago, I sent my new book, Working Toward Excellence, to Darren knowing there would be a small chance he would A) receive it, B) read it, and C) like it.  Well a couple weeks ago, I got an email from his Digital Asset Production Manager, the very kind Mariana Lenox, inviting me to do an interview on “Winning Habits” for the SUCCESS Audio Series (SAS), a private subscription offered in their SUCCESS Club pack to specific companies and their employees, businesses, and entrepreneurs  currently reaching over 1 million people!

The biggest thrill when I started the interview was Darren telling me how he came about my book.  He said (I’m paraphrasing), that I had sent it to his office where he usually gets 25-30 books a week, plus he only comes into that office 3-4 times a week.  Somehow my book was on or near the top of the pile and and when he opened it he liked the title.  When he went out of town, he grabbed my book and put it in his briefcase and read it while he was traveling.  On top of that, someone scheduled to do the interview had to back out, and remembering by book, he invited me!

I have been a loyal subscriber of SUCCESS magazine for a few years and always look forward to the new issue and CD arriving in my mailbox each month.  Darren Hardy is a class act and I highly recommend subscribing to this truly excellent magazine which comes with a free audio CD, featuring interviews with the world’s top marketers, authors, and thought leaders.  For more information, check out www.success.com.

OK, now for that content I promised you.  I’ll post one question a week for the next several weeks.  The full  audio interview is schedule to be released in December.  Enjoy, and thanks again Darren for this amazing opportunity to help others work toward excellence!

Question 1.  So Paul, to get us started, give us your definition of excellence and what that might look like…when do we know we are delivering excellence?

My definition of excellence is performing at a high level and being exceptionally good at what you do.  It means having high standards and expectations as well as a low tolerance for mediocrity. 

When you see excellence taking place, you see individuals and teams reaching their full potential and performing to the best of their ability.

I think we know we are delivering excellence when we feel confident in our preparation – confident that we have done everything in our power to put ourselves in a position to succeed.  But excellence is never guaranteed.  Sometimes we achieve it, and sometimes we fall short, but if we always work toward it, we will not have any regrets.     

More to come Sunday, September 16.