
From about the age of seven we have been trained to complete tasks during the week. At some point most of us have been given homework from our teachers and chores from our parents. Once these tasks are completed we were told, 'well done', given a treat or acknowledged perhaps in some positive way. As we mature we start to have more self imposed and other external tasks and chores. Once one task is completed mostly we simply, blindly move on to the next without thought.
Often we forget to give ourselves the compliment or reward for completing these tasks. It's just something we feel we've got to do. But there is always an alternative, we could not do it and incur the negative consequences. We should try to acknowledge even these small achievements in some way. Maybe rewarding ourselves with adding it to a small wins list for the day or adding a smiley next to the task on our to-do list or my personal favourite blowing some bubbles, always a win and always fun. Whatever it is, we should try and find a way to celebrate every task we complete.

There is more however to simply completing a task and there is more to just ticking off all the to-dos. Completing everything is always good but merely completing what's set and what's required, will only land us on the edge of great and sometimes merely completing will only lead to mediocrity. This is especially true for tasks given by our teachers. There is only a few hours in the week your teacher can teach you and set you work. The rest of the week you are without them. Therefore, they can only set so much work based on what you show you can do. But if we really, truly want to excel and achieve, than the answer is to always go beyond the expected, to go beyond what is asked of us. If you're given one book to read in the week, try to maybe read 2 or an article or review on that book.

Try to do something extra that will deepen your understanding and knowledge around the given task. By doing something extra we can truly catapult into the realm of great. Also, if we double down and always try to do double what's set, we can double the rate of how fast we can achieve. There is almost always a standard expectation to do with how fast we can progress and what our aptitude is and can be. This can be either external, from our teachers, family friends etc or internal. So if we want to really meet our true potential and see what is possible than we need to step it up and stop just doing the minimum. We need to complete and then exceed our tasks.

One simple example is perhaps, say we have to clean the living room. Depending on what stage you are at in life this could be either a self imposed task or external. Either way we could do the minimum and hoover, dust etc or we could find a way to exceed the expectations for cleaning it. How could the space be more beautiful and cleaner than expected? Maybe it's by rearranging something or adding some fresh flowers or buying a new scent for a diffuser to add some intrigue and relaxation to the space. Whatever it is, we can find a way to do it better. One great way is to always ask ourselves, before we start a task, 'is there a way I could exceed the expectations for this given task?''What would it take for me to go one step further?' 'How could I make this better, more beautiful or magical?'

I know often in life there are time constraints. There are times when it is simply impossible and doing the
minimum is more than we can possibly hope to achieve but let's try and see how far we can go. See if we can reach higher than we could possibly hope to go and do more.
I hope that you can surprise yourself and find a way to make every task you complete better than expected.
Lots of love and luck to you all
Naomi Leila
Xxx