What does it mean to do one’s best? I am going to suggest a definition and live with it while I write. You and I could discuss and debate until the cows come home what it means. Does it mean to be perfect? It would be easy to assume that a person’s “best” is perfection since anything less than perfection is not what would be considered the best. Am I right? Of course I am right! But since no one is perfect (sorry, maybe you are, but the rest of us are not), let us try a different definition for “best.”
I suggest that doing one’s best simply means that a person makes the effort to complete a task(s) considering the time available, the education/skill level acquired, the opportunity/circumstance surrounding the task, and the setting in which the task is performed. You are correct: That is not such a simple definition, but at least it leaves out the idea of perfection. One more thought. I will use athletic competition to make my point, but know that the principles apply to any effort (work, school, church, family, etc) to do the best.
Before we go on, there is another issue...
Before we go on, there is another issue to consider: Any “doing one’s best” cannot be judged by the outcome. Did you catch that? Outcome is NOT a correct barometer for “best.” Why do we believe that it is? If the athlete or athletic team “wins,” then they did their best, but if the athlete does not “win” (or break the record or do better than last time or ??? whatever), the athlete or team must not have done their best. Do you agree? People say it all the time! How about this idea: If you judge “best” by outcome (that is, by time, victory, personal record, etc) then it is impossible to do one’s best very often. What do you think of that? Pure statistical chance says that a team is going to lose 50% of the time. Of course, some teams win more than 50%....which only means that some poor teams win less! Which raises the question: If we judge by outcome, why do many teams or individual athletes go out there? Just to lose again? Just to “not do their best again?” If that is the case, then there are a bunch of masochists roaming the earth. I say again: It is inappropriate to judge “best” by the outcome of an event. Other elements must be used.
OK...let us consider each of the other elements I believe are indicative of “doing one’s best.”
1. EFFORT. This one is a ‘no-brainer.’ “Best” cannot be accomplished without some effort. Practice, planning, preparation, more practice, learning the event requirements, knowing the competition, strategy, more practice, conditioning...you get the picture. Ah, but the grand question is: How to know when the amount of effort given is commensurate with “doing one’s best?” You cannot dedicate 24/7 to the effort. If you did, what would happen to the rest of your life? Or maybe you do not have a life, like me. Still, you must eat, go to work or school, sleep, attend to family matters, go to church, attend to civic duties, help others, and so the list goes. Among all the requirements of life, what is enough effort to be considered to have done “one’s best?” In truth, your guess is as good as mine. But here is a thought: “Effort” vis-a-vis “Best” depends upon many factors solely within your own control. I cannot tell you whether you have done your best. If you believe the effort you have made, given the factors that surround your effort, is the best you can do, then You Did Your Best! (The only people this thought does not help is the perfectionists – that is another writing.)
2. TIME. Time and effort go hand in hand; they are really a subset of one another. However, time dedicated to the effort can help define whether your effort has been sufficient to be considered “best” or not. Typically we gauge time in segments we call a day. The last I checked there are 24 hours in a day. Everybody gets the same. No one gets more and no one gets less. The rich cannot purchase more hours in their day. The poor cannot claim they got a bum deal for hours in a day. The intellectual cannot conjure up more hours in the thought process. Everyone is on a level playing field when it comes to time. So, get out your schedule and calculate the amount of time you dedicate to your effort as well as how much time is needed for other activities and requirements of your life. What does your schedule tell you? Are you maxed out? Could you have put more time on your effort and less on TV watching? Are you managing your life duties/process adequately? Your schedule will tell you how well your effort is directed toward doing you “best.” Again, only you can judge. Others can suggest, guide, or complain, but only you can judge.
3. EDUCATION/SKILL LEVEL. Some people bring more to the table than others. Some helped construct the table; others do not even know where the table is. Your skill level, your education/training regarding the desired effort is different from others. It may be in the same ballpark and you have had similar experiences, but your level is different, at least in small ways. Maybe you had a great coach or great teacher; maybe you had excellent training; or maybe you just got the basics. How can outcome be the standard by which to judge “doing one’s best” when there are such discrepancies in what one brings to the table?
4. OPPORTUNITY/CIRCUMSTANCE. Opportunity and circumstance are similar in discussion to education and skill level. Where you live, work, attend school, learn about life, or learn your skill at which you make effort has a tremendous amount to do with how well you will produce when the time comes. Life opportunities and what life teaches us (or allows us to learn) changes from situation to situation. Therefore, your “best” may bring a result far better (or less) than the best of another person just because of the circumstances that surround your life. Even just a little imagination on this topic will illustrate to you the vastly wide range of “best” that results from opportunity and circumstance. So, again, how can outcome be the standard for “best?” It cannot!
5. TASK SETTING. Hopefully you are beginning to see the point, without me going on and on. Where a task or event is accomplished has a strong bearing upon outcome. Take cross country running for example. You have a tremendous kick at the end of the race; another is good at hills with little kick at the end. Given the same basic ability for speed on the flat, who will win? Depends upon the number and kind of hills I say. I can make other examples, and so can you. Basic capacities are different. Therefore, the setting for the event or task has a significant influence upon outcome.
I rest my case. Outcome is only a small factor in the judgment of whether one did the “best” or not. Learn to judge yourself fairly, based upon all the factors. Particularly to you perfectionists do I speak. The ability to be perfect or to “do one’s best” can only be judged upon all the factors and facets that exist. Do Not Be Short Sighted!!! To judge by outcome alone is to break the rule: Do Not Judge a Book by Its Cover.