What do you need to ask yourself and to actually motivate you to strive for excellence? Is it where you would like to be in the next two, five, or ten years? Or is it about the one step that you can take right now to move closer to your goals? What is it truly helping you?
Ever since I was a professional swimmer, for the past 10 years, I was taught how to excel and achieve my maximum potential. I remember those days very clearly, when my swimming coach used to emphasize the importance of the “perfect practice”. And swimming, at the end of the day, being an individual sport, enabled me to always seek progress and to compete with myself, things that are definitely useful for me at the moment.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Aristotle
By connecting the dots with the hospitality industry, I may say that us – Generation Z – when we need to strive for perfection to evolve, we could be facing some obstacles at each step that might delay our success, and still, we never feel “good enough”, or pleased with our achievement; because after all, overthinking is just another attribute of ours. But every day is a new day for new lessons, filled with opportunities for improvement in whatever you want to accomplish. What is genuinely notable is that gradual enhancement is key to daily wins.
I have to say that when we are young, we are under the guidance of our mentors and implicitly we let them, an external source, to motivate us. But now, for example, the circumstances are changing completely the data equation, meaning that at this time, us – Generation Z – we are capable to find the inner stimulus that brings out the best of ourselves and we can, as well, increase the impact and implications we would like to have in our sphere of activity, the hospitality industry.
For me, it was always important to surpass the ordinary and the standards of expectation in order to achieve excellence. And this is also one of the factors that keep me self-motivated. But it's not only applicable to me, it's even more to this whole generation. It comes as a defining characteristic of Gen Zers – being goal-oriented and highly driven. And if you ask me, our implications in the hospitality industry could be enormous if we truly reach our full potential on a daily basis.
Thus, here are 5 ways that you might wish to consider if you aim for excellence in your professional life, and why not personal also:
Accept your authenticity and give yourself permission to be you;
Decide to excel regardless of the difficulty level;
Face the challenge and choose to become a leader;
Surround yourself with positivism and encouragement from people that value your knowledge and aptitudes;
Fulfill your dreams and make them a reality, even though they might seem impossible at the beginning.
In the following part, you can find a detailed, and visual understanding of the 5 essential ways a Gen Zer could achieve professional distinction, in the form of an infographic:
As a current student, I am increasing and revealing my passion for hospitality even more each consecutive day. And in the end, I could say that the skills, techniques, or knowledge that we acquire in school are essential for our future careers, but it is the quality delivery, professional values, and dedication to our work that they want to instill in us, that honestly makes the difference; and therefore the implications of Generation Z in the hospitality industry so important.
NB: If you strive for excellence, you have faith in yourself and in what you are capable of – as a result – you will be crowned with success.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog post! If you liked this article and you found it beneficial, or maybe you'll decide to pursue a career in hospitality management, please leave a comment below, share, and don't hesitate to contact me for any queries! It would be very much appreciated!
And just a quick remark: If you enjoyed this, then you'll also probably like “When Miss Advocate Gen Z meets Mister Hospitality Management”, which is a blog post written earlier this year by one of my colleagues, Mandimby Tiavina Rajoel (a Master student from Madagascar).
Author: Ms. Mara Constantin, Bachelor in Business Administration and Hospitality Management at Hotel Institute Montreux (HIM), from Romania.