The Best Keep Getting Better

“The quality of an individual is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.”

Ray Kroc

I’ve Been Thinking. . . about getting better.


In the late 1600’s, three rural families dominated the musical instrument industry. Working in shops located side-by-side in the Italian village of Cremona, these families produced the finest in violins.

The Amatis family hung a sign outside their shop that read: “The best violins in all Italy.” Not wanting their creations to go unnoticed, the Guarnerius family posted a sign that read: “The best violins in all the world!” The famous Anton Stradivari, known to produce the finest, most expensive stringed instrument, boasted his world-wide notoriety by hanging a sign on his front door which simply read: “The best violins on the block!”

Stradivari was a self-taught violin making perfectionist. He refused to develop a relationship with “good enough.” Using primitive tools and working alone until late in life, Stradivari created a standard of violin quality unmatched by his competitors. Each violin had to meet his personal standards. His passionate attention to detail allowed him to make the bold statement; “Other people will make other violins but no one shall make a better one.”

Can you make that same claim? Other people may do what you do but no one will do it better. Henry Ward Beecher suggested, “Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself.” To be the best you can be requires an unquenchable desire to continually make your best better. The exciting result is that your commitment to personal excellence will last a lifetime and beyond.

“Once you’re labeled ‘the best,’” said Larry Bird during his prime in the NBA, “you want to stay up there, and you can’t do it by loafing around.” In his off-season, Larry Bird lifted weights, ran, and worked on new moves and shots. “If I don’t keep changing,” Bird told Esquire magazine, “I’m history.”

Are you the best? What effort are you putting forth to get there, and, if there, how are you refining your skills to make sure you don’t become unfortunate “history?”


The best keep getting better.

Jessica Tandy, Oscar winner for her role in “Driving Miss Daisy,” was asked in Vis a Vis if any of her performances have left her unsatisfied. “All of them,” she instantly replied. “I’ve never come off the stage at the end of a performance and said, ‘Tonight, everything was perfect.’ There’ll always be some little thing that I’ll have to get right tomorrow.” Such is the reason why her performance in the movie “Fried Green Tomatoes” once again won her outstanding reviews.

Are you raising the bar on your current idea of excellence? The best keep redefining better.

No one knows for sure who invented the cupcake, but there’s no question who improved it. D.R. “Doc” Rice is credited with injecting the cream filling and putting the squiggly white line atop the cupcake’s chocolate icing at Continental Baking Company’s Detroit Plant. Rice’s changes in the original devil’s food cake hand-covered with vanilla or chocolate icing formula, led to widespread popularity of the snack.

What areas of your life could become better with an ‘injection’ of innovative thought and action?

The best make things better and raise the bar.

Michelangelo received a visit from a friend as he worked diligently on a sculpture. After a brief chat, the friend left but returned later to find Michelangelo working on the same statue. Thinking the statue was nearly completed on his last visit and seeing no visible change, he exclaimed, “You haven’t been working all this time on that same statue, have you?”

“Indeed I have,” the sculptor replied. “I’ve been retouching the facial features, refining the leg muscles, polishing the torso; I’ve softened the presentation of some areas and enhanced the eye’s expression.”

“But all those things are insignificant,” responded the visitor. “They are mere trifles.” “That may be,” replied Michelangelo, “but trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.”

“Trifles make perfection and perfection is no trifle.” I love that concept! Although simply spoken, the consequences have monumental impact. People who pay attention to the “little things,” the seemingly insignificant, produce excellence in larger matters. The best pay attention to the trifling details.

Take inventory. What small details in your life have you overlooked? Are there functions that appear insignificant? Renew your commitment and give attention to these finishing touches.

“I am a big believer in the ‘mirror test.’ All that matters is if you can look in the mirror and honestly tell the person you see there that you’ve done your best.”


John McKay