The desire to excel should be exclusive of the fact whether someone appreciates it or not.

Nice reading...
A gentleman was once visiting a temple under construction. In the temple premises, he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he saw, just a few meters away, another identical idol was lying. Surprised he asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statutes of the same idol?". "No", said the sculptor, "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage".

The gentleman examined the sculpture. No apparent damage was visible. "Where is the damage?" asked the gentleman. "There is a scratch on the nose of the idol" replied the sculptor. "Where are you going to keep the idol?" asked the Gentleman. The sculptor replied that it will be installed on a pillar 20 feet high. "When the idol will be 20 feet away from the eyes of the beholder, who is going to know that there is scratch on the nose?", the gentleman asked.

The sculptor looked at the gentleman, smiled and said "The God knows it and I know it !!! " The desire to excel should be exclusive of the fact whether someone appreciates it or not.

Bottom-line:
"If you want to achieve excellence you can do it now. Don't look for excuses; take responsibility for your own actions. If we are to take credit for our successes then we should also assume responsibility for our failures. If we all do more in all we do and do the best job possible then success will undoubtedly follow" – Sources Unknown