Excellence is a talent or quality which is unusually good and so surpasses ordinary standards. It is also an aimed for standard of performance.

History[link]

The Ancient Greeks had a concept of arete which meant an outstanding fitness for purpose. This occurs in the works of Aristotle and Homer. Aristotle once said. "We are what we repeatedly do . . . excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." ^[1]Another related concept was eudaimonia which was the happiness which resulted from a life well-lived, being prosperous and fulfilled. The equivalent concept in Muslim philosophy is ihsan.

Practice makes perfect[link]

Studies have shown that the most important way to achieve excellent performance in fields such as sport, music, professions and scholarship is to practice. Achievement of excellence in such fields commonly requires approximately 10 years of dedication, comprising about 10,000 hours of effort.^[2]

See also[link]

• Diligence
• Sophistication

References[link]

Joe Rogan
Joe Rogan performs at a comedy club after UFC 70
Birth name	Joseph James Rogan[1]
Born	(1967-08-11) August 11, 1967 (age 44) Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, Presenter, Announcer, Podcaster
Nationality	American
Years active	1988—present
Genres	Satire/political satire, blue comedy, observational comedy
Subject(s)	Recreational drug use, self-deprecation, race relations, marriage, everyday life, parenting, current events, politics, religion
Influences	Richard Pryor, Bill Hicks, Sam Kinison
Spouse	Jessica Rogan (2009–present) 2 children, 1 step daughter
Notable works and roles	Joe Garrelli in NewsRadio Co-Host of The Man Show Host of Fear Factor Commentator for the UFC Author of the Book Space Monkey Host of The Joe Rogan Experience

Joseph James "Joe" Rogan (born August 11, 1967) is an American martial artist, stand-up comedian, actor, writer and color commentator. He is best known for playing Joe Garrelli on the NBC sitcom NewsRadio, commentating for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, hosting the NBC reality show Fear Factor and The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

Early life[link]

Rogan was born in Newark, New Jersey.^[2] His paternal grandfather was Irish and the remainder of his ancestry is Italian.^[3]

Career[link]

Martial arts[link]

In 1981, at age fourteen, he became a practitioner of Kenpo Karate before transitioning to Taekwondo.^[4] He eventually gained a 2nd dan black belt.^[5] A four-time state champion in Massachusetts, in 1987 he was the USA Taekwondo U.S. Open Champion.^[6] In 1996, he began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Jean Jacques Machado, eventually earning his brown belt.^[7] In addition, he holds a brown belt in 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu under Eddie Bravo.^[8][9]

He also practiced and competed in kickboxing.^[10]

Acting[link]

In 1994, he co-starred on the Fox comedy Hardball as Frank Valente, the young, ego-centric star player on a fictional professional baseball team.^[11] From 1995 to 1999, he co-starred on the comedy NewsRadio. He portrayed Joe Garrelli, the electrician at WNYX, a news radio station in New York City.^[12] In 2002, he appeared on the episode "A Beautiful Mind" of Just Shoot Me as Chris, Maya Gallo's boyfriend.^[13] In 2011, Rogan played his first major character in a movie in the Kevin James movie Zookeeper.^[14] He is slated to play himself in an upcoming action-comedy starring Kevin James called Here Comes the Boom, set to be released in the summer of 2012.^[15]

Color commentary[link]

Rogan began working for the UFC in 1997, making his debut interviewing fighters at UFC 12: Judgement Day in Dothan, Alabama, before eventually becoming a color commentator for the promotion.^[16] He won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards in two occasions as Best Television Announcer. He was also named "MMA Personality of the Year" in the 2011 World MMA Awards.^[17]

Stand-up comedy[link]

Rogan has toured as a stand-up comedian and recorded several albums and specials, including Shiny Happy Jihad and Joe Rogan: Talking Monkeys in Space.

In 2007 Rogan confronted comedian Carlos Mencia on stage, accusing him of joke thievery.^[18] A video of the incident, created with Brian Redban, included evidence and supporting comments from other comedians, including George Lopez, Reverend Bob Levy, Bobby Lee and Ari Shaffir.^[19]

Hosting[link]

Rogan worked on the TV series Fear Factor, as a host of the United States version of the show. He hosted from June 11, 2001 through September 12, 2006. Rogan returned as the host of Fear Factor in the rebooted edition of the show, which aired December 12, 2011 on NBC.

In 2003, Rogan and Doug Stanhope replaced Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla as co-hosts of The Man Show.^[20] They continued through the end of the show's run in 2004.

In December 2009, Rogan began hosting a regular podcast with concurrent live Ustream availability.^[21] Co-hosted by his friend and the show's producer Brian Redban, the podcast features an array of guests from the pursuits of comedy, acting and Mixed Martial Arts.^{[citation needed]} Now known as The Joe Rogan Experience, the show is regularly found in the Apple iTunes top 10 most downloaded comedy, and was named one of iTunes "Best of 2010" audio podcasts in its first year.

Personal life[link]

In 2008, Rogan and his wife to be, Jessica, had a baby girl.^[22] The couple married in 2009. In 2010, Rogan announced the birth of a second baby. Rogan also has a step daughter with his wife Jessica.^[23][24]

Although raised Roman Catholic,^[25] Rogan stated in September 2010, during a guest appearance on the Alex Jones radio show, that he does not follow any organized religions because he feels it is all the work of man. Rogan also said that he is not completely opposed to the concept of a "higher power" such as a God; however, he views the concept of God as part of nature that exists in everything.

Rogan has argued for the possibility of the moon landings being a hoax.^[26][27]

One of the recurring themes in his stand-up comedy and life is the use and support of cannabis, psilocybin mushrooms, and DMT. Rogan supports the medical and recreational use of cannabis.^[28] He has also starred in the marijuana documentary The Union: The Business Behind Getting High.^[29] Rogan was featured in the 2010 History Channel documentary, Marijuana: A Chronic History, as an advocate of legalized medical use of marijuana. He is also the presenter of the 2010 documentary, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, released in October 2010.

Comedy recordings[link]

• I'm Gonna Be Dead Someday (CD) (August 22, 2000)
• Live from the Belly of the Beast (DVD) (May 4–5, 2001)
• Joe Rogan: Live (DVD) (September 1, 2006)
• Shiny Happy Jihad (CD) (April 10, 2007)
• Talking Monkeys in Space (CD & DVD) (2010) Comedy Central Records

Awards and recognition[link]

• World MMA Awards
  • 2011 Personality of the Year
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • 2010 Best Television Announcer
  • 2011 Best Television Announcer ^[30]
• Teen Choice Award,
  • Choice TV Reality/Variety Host for Fear Factor (2003, Nominated)

See also[link]

• List of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Joe Rogan on Twitter
• Joe Rogan on Youtube
• Fear Factor
• Interview from August 2008
• Joe Rogan at the Internet Movie Database
• Joe Rogan on his UFC career

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2010)

Thomas J. "Tom" Peters (born November 7, 1942) is an American writer on business management practices, best known for In Search of Excellence (co-authored with Robert H. Waterman, Jr).

Life and career[link]

Peters was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He went to Severn School for High School and attended Cornell University, receiving a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1965, and a master's degree in 1966. He later studied business at Stanford Business School, receiving an M.B.A. and Ph.D.. In 2004, he also received an honorary doctorate from the State University of Management in Moscow.

From 1966 to 1970, he served in the United States Navy, making two deployments to Vietnam as a Navy Seabee, then later working in the Pentagon. From 1973 to 1974, he worked in the White House as a senior drug-abuse advisor, during the Nixon administration. Peters has acknowledged the influence of military strategist Colonel John Boyd on his later writing.

From 1974 to 1981, Peters worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, becoming a partner and Organization Effectiveness practice leader in 1979. In 1981, he left McKinsey to become an independent consultant.

In 1990, Peters was referred to in a British Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) publication as one of the world's Quality Gurus.

Bestselling author[link]

In Search of Excellence was published in 1982, and became a bestseller, gaining national exposure when a series of television specials based on the book and hosted by Peters appeared on PBS. The primary idea espoused was that of solving business problems with as little business process overhead as possible, and empowering decision-makers at multiple levels of a company.

In his more recent books, Peters has encouraged personal responsibility in response to the "New Economy". Quoting from his book, Talent: Develop It, Sell It, Be It: "The harsh news: This Is Not Optional. The microchip will colonize all rote activities. And we will have to scramble to reinvent ourselves - as we did when we came off the farm and went into the factory, and then as we were ejected from the factory and delivered to the white-collar towers. The exciting news (as I see it anyway): This Is Not Optional. The reinvented you and the reinvented me will have no choice but to scramble and add value in some meaningful way."

In the December 2001 issue of Fast Company, Peters was quoted admitting that he had falsified the underlying data for In Search of Excellence. In an odd turn of events, however, he later insisted that this was untrue, and that he was the victim of an "aggressive headline."^[1]

Peters's latest book is The Little Big Things, released in March 2010.^[2]

Peters currently lives in West Tinmouth, Vermont with his wife Susan Sargent, and continues to write and speak about personal and business empowerment and problem solving methodologies.^[3] His namesake company is based in the UK.

Works[link]

• 1982 - In Search of Excellence (co-written with Robert H. Waterman, Jr.)
• 1985 - A Passion for Excellence (co-written with Nancy Austin)
• 1987 - Thriving on Chaos
• 1992 - Liberation Management
• 1993 - The Tom Peters Seminar: Crazy Times Call for Crazy Organizations
• 1994 - The Pursuit of WOW!
• 1997 - The Circle of Innovation: You Can't Shrink Your Way to Greatness
• 1999 - The Brand You50, The Project50 and The Professional Service Firm50 (Reinventing Work Series)
• 2003 - Re-imagine! Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age
• 2005 - Talent
• 2005 - Leadership
• 2005 - Design
• 2005 - Trends (co-written with Martha Barletta)
• 2010 - The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence

References[link]

• Speechtek biography
• Stewart Crainer: Corporate Man to Corporate Skunk: The Tom Peters Phenomenon, Oxford, 1997
• Winfried W. Weber: Innovation durch Injunktion, Goettingen, 2005 [1]

• Tom Peters: The Bestselling Prophet of the Management Revolution (part of a 4-book series of business biographies on Peters, Bill Gates, Peter Drucker, and Warren Buffett)
• Talent: Develop It, Sell It, Be It
• The Brand Called You This article by Tom Peters first appeared in FastCompany magazine in 1997.

External links[link]

• tompeters! - official site

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Tom Peters

Earl Nightingale (March 12, 1921 – March 28, 1989) was an American motivational speaker and author, known as the "Dean of Personal Development."^[1] He was the voice in the early 1950s of Sky King, the hero of a radio adventure series, and was a WGN radio show host from 1950 to 1956.^[2] Nightingale was the author of the Strangest Secret, which economist Terry Savage has called “…One of the great motivational books of all time“.^[3]

Biography[link]

When Nightingale was seventeen he joined the United States Marines. He was on the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor and was one of twelve surviving Marines on board that day.^[4] Before being mustered, Nightingale was an instructor at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Career[link]

After the war Nightingale began work in the radio industry, which eventually led to work as a motivational speaker. In the fall of 1949, Nightingale was inspired while reading Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.^[5] Quoting from the Earl Nightingale official website: "When he was 29, Earl's enlightenment had come to him as a bolt out of the blue while reading, 'Think and Grow Rich'. It came when he realized that the six words he read were the answer to the question he had been looking for! That, 'we become what we think about'. He realized that he had been reading the same truth over and over again, from the New Testament...to the works of Emerson. 'We become what we think about.' 'As ye sow, so shall ye reap...'" ^[6]In 1956 he produced a spoken word record, The Strangest Secret, which sold over a million copies, making it the first spoken-word recording to achieve Gold Record status. ^{[7] [8]} In 1960, a condensed audio version of Think and Grow Rich was narrated by Nightingale. It was titled Think and Grow Rich: The Essence Of The Immortal Book By Napoleon Hill, Narrated by Earl Nightingale, produced by Success Motivation Institute. Also in 1960, he cofounded the Nightingale-Conant corporation with Lloyd Conant.^[9]

Nightingale’s radio program, Our Changing World, became the most highly syndicated radio program ever, and was heard across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, South Africa, the Bahamas, 23 countries overseas, as well as the Armed Forces Network.

After his retirement and before his death, Nightingale and his wife, Diana formed Keys Publishing.

Recognition[link]

He won a gold record for the LP The Strangest Secret

In 1976, he won the Golden Gavel Award from Toastmasters International ^[10] He was inducted into the National Speakers Association Speaker Hall of Fame.^[11]

In 1985, Nightingale was inducted into The Association of National Broadcasters National Radio Hall of Fame.^[12]

In the mid-eighties, Nightingale wrote his first book, Earl Nightingale’s Greatest Discovery for which he received the Napoleon Hill Gold Medal for Literary Excellency.

Just prior to his death in 1989, Nightingale created a new format for a book called The Winner’s Notebook. It included his text, his illustrations, and incorporated space for a private journal.

Legacy[link]

During his lifetime, Nightingale wrote and recorded over 7,000 radio programs, 250 audio programs as well as television programs and videos.^[13]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Earl Nightingale official website
• Nightingale-Conant
• Our Changing World Video: Gone with the Tide
• Our Changing World Video: On Edgar Allan Poe
• Our Changing World Video: The Personal Commitment (Stradivarius violin)
• Orangeville Citizen, Newspaper Column - Christian Perspectives [re: The Stangest Secret], June 16, 2011
• Mark Victor Hansen: Listen to Earl Nightingale and The Stangest Secret