While I can build a Content Management System (CMS) from scratch I choose not to because there are so many out there already. There are usually multiple solutions to a problem and it’s the same way with CMSs; there are usually several good options to choose from. I’m not a big fan of reinventing the wheel. If something is not working the way it was intended, let’s find the solutions to the problems at hand. That’s also how I see open source – someone has a great idea and the community can help turn it into something, even make it better, and collaborate on a problem to come up with the best solution. You can’t know all the answers but you can work on knowing where to find them, which people to talk to, and be humble enough to ask for help.
Excellence is the journey of striving to be the best version of myself. It’s not about finding a way to do the bare minimum by comparing to what others are doing but rather looking inward and finding the potential that’s there and working toward reaching it to its fullest. Amazingly, when everyone excels, everyone wins. There are no losers when everyone gives it their all.
To the best of my ability, I live with an attitude of gratitude for the things I have, and without complaining about the things I don’t. The same goes with circumstances; I may not be able to control them, but I control how I respond. I control whether I see myself as a victim or as an overcomer. I control whether a situation pulls me down or becomes a stepping stone in my life, whether to give up or to live a life of excellence. And excellence is not a thing I can do one time and then I have it. No. Excellence is a way of life, something to continually be with my whole being.
The Tesla company, for example, has this way of excellence that I’ve observed from the outside. Starting with the design, everything is well thought out, every detail looks like someone went out of their way to put it in the exact right spot. And even with the release of new models, from what I’ve read, releases are sometimes delayed because of an update being added to them. Delaying the release of a product so that a better version of it will go to the customer, if this is really true, is evidence of excellence. I want to be seen by those around me that way too… that I would go out of my way to make something better, better than the minimum, better than my initial goal, so that those on the receiving end have a better version. Excellence means that those around me experience the best version of myself.
~ Daniel Gurtner