Seek

It's hard to deal with results that fall short of expectations, isn't it?  That's the danger, of course, in setting expectations for ourselves or others - the risk that they might not be met.  Expect too little and success feels hollow; expect too much and falling short becomes routine and eventually feels like failure.  Thus, the fine line of setting the perfect expectation, and the finer line of how to feel about not quite reaching it.  Consider this:

"Seeking excellence".  Don't these words, this idea, at once set a rather lofty expectation while also providing the freedom to fall short without reproach or remorse?  Excellence can be a moving target; when nearly grasped it shifts a bit farther away, pulling the seeker farther than he/she was intending to go.  However, the seeker of excellence has the luxury of avoiding failure as long as the seeking doesn't stop.  And therein lies the beauty of seeking excellence: it cannot result in failure unless failure is the chosen result.

Seek excellence.  Failure cannot live where excellence is being sought.