‘Quality is not an act, it is a habit’ -  Aristotle

Yesterday a friend of mine gifted me a silk scarf. It is beautiful and is made of pure silk. She had gifted another stole to me earlier and that too was of very fine quality. I have noticed this about her. She does everything with quality. Be it decorating her house, cooking, clothes, even her manner of speaking. It is her habit.

My grandmother was a stickler for quality. She would dice onions with such precision that each piece would be of the same size. She would say,’ anybody can dice onions but to do that with quality is the test how dedicated you are to details. I used to wonder what has dicing of onion got to do with our attitude about quality?’ But as I grew, I understood what she meant. Often times we try to get away from a particular task because we are in a hurry and we say lets get it over with. In the process, we compromise on quality.

Quality is a habit, which can be developed, but like all habits, one should have the awareness that we need it. Its better to set fewer tasks to accomplish in a day and do quality work, rather than finishing more but shabbily. Quality over quantity is an age-old adage. It is our attitude that decides whether we are going to do an excellent job or a passable one. Ever wondered that in spite of you working more, your colleague gets all the praises although he/she accomplishes less? Next time see the quality of their work.

Remember when we had to make indexes on the front page of our homework notebooks? There were students who would draw the index right in the beginning of the year and fill them diligently. Then there were many who would do a last minute job and would spill ink or make a wrong entry. Well, chances are if you fell in the latter category, you are still doing a last minute job in your presentations in the office. Quality was habit that you did not cultivate. It took me some years to do that.

But believe me, it gives you immense satisfaction if you pay attention to all the details and do an excellent job.

So in case you are still struggling, go ahead and start today. It is never too late.

So be it!!!