Pursuit of Excellence: Less a Program Than a Way of Life

“The Pursuit of Excellence is an achievement challenge designed to help a participant develop a Christlike life of love and service. Accomplishing this objective requires a diligent and serious effort in fundamental aspects of a truly Christian life—spiritual, intellectual, social, physical, and in service and character.” (Pursuit of Excellence Handbook, 1974 Melchizedek Priesthood MIA.)

This program, which replaces the former Master M-Man, Golden Gleaner Award, is more a way of life than a program. It is based on the idea that “nothing is more invigorating than working hard to fulfill a noble and worthwhile purpose” and that life is “abundant and bounteous” when a person becomes absorbed in achieving eternal goals.

To assist in internalizing the process of goal selection, a process that should operate throughout life, the Melchizedek Priesthood MIA has prepared a program handbook containing procedures and sample goals. Anyone in the ward over the age of 18, married or single, can participate. A pin and certificate may be awarded at one point, but the overall goal of achieving an excellent life should continue forever.

The participant should make a preliminary selection of goals by using the Pursuit of Excellence Handbook, available from the Distribution Center, 1999 West 1700 South, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84111. Then he should make an appointment to meet with a member of the elders quorum presidency, a member of the Relief Society presidency, a member of the bishopric or branch presidency, or a stake high councilor. The two should counsel together about the selected goals, set a date to check progress, identify the reasons for working on the goal, and list the steps to accomplish the goal.

Some sample goals are:

1. Spiritual challenges: strengthen your testimony of the gospel through fasting, prayer, and study. Share your growing testimony on appropriate occasions, and participate in missionary or reactivation activities.

2. Intellectual challenges: develop interest in a new creative field or hobby; take advantage of cultural opportunities in your area.

3. Physical challenges: evaluate your adherence to the total spirit of the Word of Wisdom, especially in eating and sleeping habits; acquire greater proficiency in an occupational or homemaking skill such as carpentry or typing.

4. Service challenges: give consistent service to the Church in addition to your Church calling(s); under proper direction, help a child with homework, physical activity, or cultural enrichment.

5. Character challenges: apply the “second mile” principle; make commitments carefully and keep righteous promises scrupulously; do not envy others.

Will this program work? Still in its infancy, it has great promise, but a similar program, instituted on an experimental basis under the direction of stake high councilor Robert Raybould in the former University Stake at the University of Utah, had great success. Initially for the women, it expanded to include men as well just before the stake was reorganized.

And it worked! Marion Randle set up a food storage program with a roommate; Naomi Allred took a tailoring class, something she always wanted to do. Kathy Frederickson learned to golf, and also completed her four-generation program for genealogy. Margaret Young established a program for daily scripture reading. Karen Smith saved up for a trip to the Hill Cumorah Pageant.

According to Brother Raybould, the periodic interviews with a priesthood leader were “one of the keys of the program.” Margaret Young, stake Relief Society president at that time, agrees: “It’s always easier to work on goals with the encouragement of someone else. It’s so much easier if someone believes in us, if someone cares, if someone knows our abilities.”

“We couldn’t have vague goals,” Karen Smith recalls. “I remember that I set the goal of developing creativity by making things with my hands, and Brother Raybould said, ‘That’s not good enough.’ I decided to make something every month and give it away, whether it was a cake or an afghan. A spiritual goal was to read the scriptures. He wanted to know how many, how long, what time, what my goal was, and when I would be finished.”

Brother Raybould stresses the importance of not trying to do too much all at once, since “a clear-cut success gives you feelings of self-confidence and happiness that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.” Valuable goals are in areas where the participant is already working but feels a need for improvement. “This did not burden their lives with additional things to do, but simply increased their effectiveness in the areas they were already involved in,” he says.

Margaret Young found that realistic self-discipline was the key: “The goal of daily scripture reading is still effective in my life today because I realized that even though my goal was to read at least one chapter a day, I would not always be able to do it. Such obstacles as illness, confusion in the room, or complete exhaustion interfered. My solution, then, was to read only a verse or two and ponder the message. This way, I didn’t break the good habit I was forming.”

Naomi Allred also finds that the program has had a lasting effect on her life. “When I came home from my mission I had one goal—like many girls—and I was getting nowhere on it. It was frustrating. This program made me realize that there was more than one thing in life. Marriage is still a goal, but now I understand myself a lot better.” She enrolled in a speed-reading course, took a tailoring class, and accomplished several other goals she had been putting off. “I actually changed my self-image by working through the program. It made me more outgoing. My whole attitude toward myself has changed.”

Brother Raybould sums it up this way: “Setting goals is like riding a bicycle. It’s easier to keep balance when we are moving toward something than when we are standing still. In the same way, it is difficult for us to maintain a spiritual and emotional balance while we are standing still.”

Visualize the Pursuit of Excellence available Church-wide, to every Church member over the age of 18. For those alone through death or divorce, the program provides a means of avoiding despair and discouragement by concentrating on desired goals. For the young, it focuses that exuberant energy in on meaningful goals. For the elderly, it can provide the excitement of setting goals in an unexplored area of development. For married couples, it can be a means of coming closer together in achievement. The vision of this program is exciting; it makes excellence an internal and continuous process—an eternal progression.

Illustrated by Preston Heiselt