“Refuse to be average. Let your heart soar as high as it will.” – A.W. Tozer
From the time we are children we are told to just do our best. No one expects perfection or anything amazing, just do the best you can and that is okay. The problem is that for many, “just do your best” really means do only what you have to in order to get by. The whole thought is changed by the use of one little word – just. Just means it is okay to be mediocre and to do only what you have to. It is an excuse word for limiting yourself and not putting in the work to be excellent. If you fail, that’s okay. After all you did your best. George Washington Carver had it right when he said “Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.”
So what is it to do your best? Doing your best means that you can excel at all you do. Success-Minded People know that they have not tapped into their full potential. They do not know how far they can go because they have not been there yet, so there is nothing stopping them from being excellent at all they do. Success-Minded People understand that to settle for half way or mediocre will never do. They forget the word “just” and focus on the word “Best”. Their best is better than okay it is outstanding.
Chaplain to King Charles II of England, Thomas Fuller, put it this way: “The real difference between men is energy. A strong will, a settled purpose, and invincible determination can accomplish almost anything; and in this lies the distinction between great men and little men.” Success-Minded People need to understand that the keys to finding your best lies in your willingness to do the hard work it takes to get there. There is no easy road to excellence and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you.
I want you to understand something: Doing your best and achieving excellence is to being the best there is. It is being the best you are. You will always find someone who can do things better than you. You will also find that you can do some things better than others. That is just the way life is for the Success-Minded Person. They know that there is always something better, something more to achieve. That keeps the Success-Minded Person striving to move forward. As Coach Pat Riley said, “Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.”
You do not have to be better than everyone else to know you have done your best. You do however have to know it was indeed your best. No excuses, no holding back, no shortcuts. You are an honorable person who knows that you have a great deal to give and whatever you do will be done to the best of your ability. This quality is not done so others will see you and say what a great person you are. It is more for you and your own knowledge that you did an excellent job, even if no one notices. But reality is that they will. You cannot hide excellence. It is as Walt Disney said “Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends.”
© 2012 John Patrick Hickey
