Robert Frost once wrote, “Somewhere ages and ages hence: two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.” I often cogitate human behaviour, my behaviour, and why some individuals develop sustained consistency in their craft while others settle for mediocrity?

To sum up, some individuals expect to pay the price of excellence, while others, who may claim ambition and the desire to succeed, are unwilling to.

So, what is that price of excellence? Simply, it is willpower, discipline, sacrifice, and devotion. It’s the day-after-day choice to take the less travelled road, one full of detours, left turns, bumps, and roadblocks. The path on the road to excellence does not have business hours. It has production hours. Excellence is first a mindset and an everchanging lifestyle that requires an immeasurable expense. Excellence is taking pride in our craft, and understanding how we do anything is how we do everything.

Those who seek and maintain excellence do the following consistently:

• Have a routine while staying focused,
• Prioritize emotional, mental, and physical fitness,
• Are insatiable in pursuit to learning, growing, and getting better,
• Continually persist and find a way when life throws obstacles,
• Take accountability by not whining and making excuses,
• Attempt resisting social temptations and distractions.

Those who tackle The Road Not Taken take time to comprehend the power of determination. Determination is the will that drives an individual to tolerate the sometimes bumpy ride. Realize there will be disappointments on the road to greatness. Continuously believe in yourself, and don’t lose sight of your goals, vision, and why you started.

Understand that only individuals willing to endure the agony of the journey will eventually revel in the rewards of their labour. Appreciating adversity is an experience, not a final act. The pathway of excellence and self-mastery does not happen immediately. It is a time-consuming transformative journey and a careful process of enlightenment, not simply a destination.

So ask, are you willing to pay the price of excellence? If your response is yes, then do it.

Never stop being unique.

—Brian Nadon

The Road Not Taken

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

― Robert Frost