Would you like to be happier and more productive? Sure, who wouldn’t? The answer is simple – Always do your best.
Consider this: We all have potentialities in every area of our lives. Our health, career, and relationships each have various components and levels to which we can perform. We may not be able to run a 4 minute mile…yet (wink-wink). We do have the ability to run the mile faster next time if we train. We may not be able to close every sale or win every bid. However, we always have the ability to do our best. If we have done our best and the results are not what we intended we may be disappointed for a brief period of time and we will get over it and move on.
If, on the other hand, we did not give it our all and do our best then the nagging pernicious venom of regret sets in. To the degree we did not perform to the level of our capability, becomes the degree of our unhappiness.
It’s that inner knowing we may have not done our best and believe we could have done better that keeps us feeling down. Do any of these sound familiar? – If only I…, I should have prepared more, If I had more time I could have…, I didn’t practice or rehearse enough, or next time I’ll do better. These are code for we did not do our best.
The good news, since we move toward pleasure and away from pain, is we hopefully will find our way to improving our ability to perform at our full potential next time so we won’t have to experience the pain of regret.
In his book The Four Agreements , Miguel Ruiz shares four agreements that offer a code of conduct that can lead to true happiness. The first agreement is Always Do Your Best.
How can we get ourselves to perform at our best more often than not?
In his book Triggers – Creating Behavior That Lasts, Marshall Goldsmith suggests creating a list to be read at the end of each day to improve our ability to do our best. Imagine asking and answering these six questions each day.
- Did I do my best to set clear goals today?
- Did I do my best to make progress toward my goal?
- Did I do my best to find meaning today?
- Did I do my best to be happy today?
- Did I do my best to build positive relationships today?
- Did I do my best to be fully engaged today?
When we commit to asking and answering these questions on a daily basis it won’t be long before we start making better choices throughout our day so we can answer in the affirmative at the end of our day
Another way to close the gap between our potential and our performance is to set clear intentions of what success with a particular endeavor looks like. We can develop the success habit of world class athletes, entertainers, business people, teachers, and service people which is to see our self achieving the desired goal as we make the right decisions and moves along the way that are in accordance with our full potential.
By raising our game and continually performing at our full potential we increase our personal capacity and beget the increased energy and drive to achieve our greatest desires.