Aim high; believe yourself capable of great things. You will succeed. – Brice Union Taylor
Brice Union Taylor was a college football player. A running back, in 1925 he became the first All-American at the University of Southern California. This quote is on a plaque of him in the peristyle end of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum commemorating that accomplishment,
Aim high…
Aim high is great advice for everyone, but particularly the novitiate. If you are just starting out at something there is no sense in setting your sights low. This isn’t always easy. Your very best takes courage, because there will always be those around you who will not give their best. It is easy to give a second-rate effort; that’s why so many people do it. But there is nothing more unrewarding than accomplishing something that is easy. No one who has done great things set out to be average. If you set out for second best, that is the most you will get.
…believe yourself capable of great things.
It is important to remember you probably won’t be great right off the bat. Great things do not happen immediately, they are the result of preparation and work and accented with skill because we cannot do great things we do not have a knack for. However, from start to finish you must believe yourself capable of greatness. The average never stumble on to greatness. The great become great because, in part, they expect it.
You will succeed.
Success must be measured, not by external factors like notoriety and fortune, but by having become your very best. It is the only barometer that matters. And only you can pass judgement on yourself. Only you can decide if you have become your very best.
You’ll know, too. Something inside will tell you this is the best you are going to get. Then you can look up and see what it got you. Simply because it is your very best it will be enough.
