I recently met with a founder who had it all figured out. She had mapped her company's next decade in stunning detail.

All of it. Product roadmaps, market expansions, hiring plans. Everything was perfect.

"But," she confessed, pouring her third coffee of our morning meeting, "I'm exhausted. And terrified. The more detailed my plans become, the more I realize how much could go wrong."

She had fallen into the excellence trap. The same trap I see consuming people every day: the belief that sustainable success means being excellent at everything, all the time, forever.

Here's the paradox: The longer we plan, the less we can predict. Yet the less we can predict, the more we desperately try to control everything through perfect planning.

Why We Fear Focused Excellence

Our brains are wired to hate specialization. It feels dangerous. Primitive humans who specialized in just one food source or one survival skill didn't last long. We're programmed to want it all.

This shows up in three destructive patterns I see in my coaching practice:

The Three Traps of False Excellence

• The Planning Trap: The belief that "I need to know exactly where we’ll be in five years" could be holding you back or could be making you live with blinders. You could be too focused on executing yesterday’s perfect plan that you miss the information right in front of you.

Your long-term plans are often out of date before the ink dries. Instead create clear visions with flexible paths.

• The Comparison Trap: The belief that "I need to be as good as everyone else at everything" could be holding you back or could be making you chase shadows. You could be so focused on matching others' strengths that you miss your own unique gifts.

Your attempts to keep up with everyone often drain your energy before building your impact. Instead, focus on your distinctive strengths with selective inspiration from others.

The Sustainable Excellence Blueprint

Instead of spreading yourself thin, let’s look at excellence through three critical lenses:

1. Time Horizon Excellence:
   • Now Zone: What must be perfect today?
   • Next Zone: What needs improvement next quarter?
   • Future Zone: What can stay “good enough” for now?
2. Energy Return Excellence:
   • High Return: Activities where excellence drives exponential results.
   • Linear Return: Activities where returns diminish quickly.
   • Maintenance: Activities where “good enough” is optimal.
3. Wellbeing Impact:
   • Energy Creators: Excellence that energizes you (Usually aligned with your passion)
   • Energy Neutrals: Excellence that neither drains nor energizes
   • Energy Vampires: Excellence that depletes you (Often others’ expectations)

But What About…?

When you doubt your approach, remember:

If you try to be excellent at everything, you risk being mediocre everywhere. You don't need to be exceptional at every skill. You can choose your excellence zones and be competent elsewhere.

To find your focus, ask: "What one capability, if you mastered it, would make everything else easier or less important?" This becomes your excellence zone.

Even in demanding fields, the most successful professionals aren't excellent at everything. They're exceptional in their specialty and competent in supporting skills. You can be the same.

Working with many leaders, I’ve seen a consistent pattern. When they stop trying to be excellent at everything, their lives transform:

• Sleep improves because their minds aren’t racing with endless to-do lists
• Creativity returns because they have mental space to innovate
• Relationships deepen because they’re not constantly distracted
• Impact increases because their energy is focused where it matters

An Offer for You

Stop Being Good at Everything. Start Being Exceptional at Something.

Three sessions. Zero fluff. Find your excellence zone.

​Book your free strategy call.​

Excellence isn’t about doing everything perfectly. It’s about doing the right things perfectly and being brave enough to let the rest be good enough.

Stay Curious and Lead A Life of Purpose,

John