Put Simply: Always Do Your Best. But What Does That Mean?
“Always do your best. That’s all anyone can ask of you.”
I remember my grandfather saying this exact thing to me as a kid. Maybe you remember a parent or another family member saying something similar to you. You’ve possibly even said it to someone yourself - such as your own kids.
Sounds so simple, doesn't it? But what does doing your best actually mean? How can you do your best if you constantly measure your best based on someone else’s expectations or your desired outcomes? What if you still miss the mark? What's the measuring stick?
This blog breaks down what doing your best actually means and how you can do your best without passing judgement on yourself or comparing yourself to another person’s best.
“Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgement, self-abuse, and regret.”
Doing your best is about taking action.
Granted, doing your best is variable because our best changes from one minute to the next. You’re more likely to do your best when you’re not tired or when you’re healthy or when you’re happy. Your everyday moods can dictate what constitutes your best at the time. Regardless of the quality, you should always do your best.
When you fail to do your best you subject yourself to more self-judgement. No personal growth will ever come from more self judgement, guilt, or self-punishment. So regardless of your mood you should always strive do your best. When you always do you best you can break the spell of self-judgement because doing your best will allow you to live your life intensely and productively.
So what stops us from doing our best? Simply put, we do.
We fail to do our best because we have an expectation of receiving an award or some amount credit for the work we do. Or even worse, we compare our best to the expectations and judgements of others. This type of expectation leads to feelings of unhappiness because your best is tied to someone or something else. Doing your best should be tied to doing something because YOU love it.
So many of us go to a job everyday we hate or stay in unhappy relationships because we think we can’t do any better. We continue down this road of madness because we need money to pay bills or support a family or just to make it to the weekend. Some where deep inside us we believe we deserve some level of unhappiness, so we constantly judge and victimize ourselves based on what we believe society accepts as appropriate.
This level of unhappiness is like a parasite to your freedom.
It keeps you from being who you really are. We feel ashamed because we don’t look like the stereotypical magazine models or make the money the 1%’ers do or we don’t parent our kids perfectly. This parasite constantly feeds on our minds and keeps us performing the same activities in search of an award we feel will make us “fit in.”
How do you change that?
If you simply take action without the expectation of an award, the awards will come naturally. Do your best simply because you want to do and be your best NOT because you want to please other people. When you do your best you learn to accept yourself - your flaws and your successes. Doing your best means you keep practicing and evaluating your results which increases your own self-awareness and allows you to redefine what YOUR best is. It allows you to express who you really are.
If you’re taking action solely because you feel you have to, then there’s no way you are going to do your best.
Action is about living fully and inaction is how we deny life. If you’re spending your life afraid to take risks and expressing who you are or living in your past mistakes, then there will be no real rewards.
It doesn’t matter how old you are, how much money you have or how many failed relationships you have been in. You must chose to take action in order to really do your best. So many dreams die because people believe they aren’t good enough. God did not put you on this Earth merely to survive. You were put here to thrive. Make the decision today step into yourself and do you best.
If this blog created an internal shift or realization for you, let us know. Inspired by the fourth of the four agreements, “Always Do Your Best”, in the best-selling book by don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements.
Stay Edgy-
Coach Daniel Tribby, ATC, CNP
Co-Founder, The Edgy Entrepreneur
© Edgy Entrepreneur, LLC. • 51 E. Jefferson St. #3292, Orlando, FL 32802 • www.edgyentrepreneurs.com
