WHEN YOUR BEST IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH

Lately, I have been inundated with so much that I have been trying my best  to stay afloat.  In this experience I found myself pushing to the background a lot of things that I needed to do because I was busy ‘trying my best’.

There is a ton of writing to do, rather than do it I have been ‘trying my best.’  Anytime someone asks me why I have not gotten any of the stuff done, I just give them the line that’ I am trying my best.  Recently, it dawned on me that trying my best is what I say, when I am avoiding to do what is required of me.  In order not to feel bad or indisciplined, I simply say I am doing my best.

 

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 Well, it doesn’t matter how much of’ my best’ I do; if it doesn’t meet the requirement, then my best just isn’t good enough then.

In living a dream, most of the stuff we will have to do on a daily basis are those things we will rather not do.  I don’t feel like doing any writing today for instance, but it is required of me.  After all, I am in the business of publishing and writing.  I really do not feel like reading today either, nor do I feel like prepping for the next training… but you know what?  All these are required of me if I will be a success.

If our personal best is good enough then there will be no need for standards whatsoever, but because we are human, sometimes, our best will not be good enough; at such times we must discipline ourselves to do what is required instead.

Here are a few tips that may help you focus on doing what is required for this week.

1.       BE INTENTIONAL:  Like I said, living a dream cannot only be dependent on what it is that we feel and ‘doing our best’.  This is why intentionality is a gift we should give ourselves. Once you recognise that your best does not help actualise the fulfilment of the goal; it is time to be intentional.  For instance, how am I going to tackle my writing lull? Tomorrow morning when I come in, I will do nothing else.  I will take receive no visitors and I will not read my emails.  I will sit at my desk and concentrate on writing for the first half of the day.

2.      TACKLE THE HARD STUFF FIRST – Once you are determined and intentional, it means you have cleared your desk and are concentrating on the task at hand.  The next step will be to list all that you are required to do.  Then prioritise and tackle them from the hardest to the less difficult ones.  In my case, I find that manuals are a lot harder to develop and write than manuscripts on life experiences.  So once I settle in, I will stick with the manuals first.  Hopefully, I will be able to deal with a few before I move on to the less difficult writings.

3.      UTILISE YOUR MOST PRODUCTIVE TIME – Everyone has a most productive time of day.  I find that mine is between 3.00 am and 10.00 am.  And because there are a lot of things required of me that I am behind on, I will be scheduling some writing time within these hours.  That means when I get up at 3.00 am, I will be dealing with the hardest tasks before I move to the easier ones.  Rather than use this time to read as I have done lately, I will commit to using it to do some serious writing.

4.      ELIMINATE TIME WASTERS; DELEGATE – Even though I said that there are stuff that are required of us that we must tackle, if we know how to delegate, some of these can be delegated to kick start the process.  For instance concerning the training manuals I mentioned, I can develop the scope of the material and assign someone else to collate and have me vet at the end of the exercise.  This way, I am free to deal with other required stuff.

5.      THINK BIG PICTURE – Finally, always think big picture.  What this means is you take time out to think about how accomplishing this required part of the work will impact positively upon that which you want to achieve.  Remember what success will look like when it is all done and maybe even picture what it will be like should you not be able to get it all done.  My thinking is that realising how not doing the required stuff can adversely affect our end result, is enough motivation to knuckle down and get it done.

The truth is that we will sometimes get in that place where our passion wanes and we are not exactly jumping over the moon to get our dreams moving.  However, while we feel that way, we still have to keep moving until we get to the goal.

My prayer is that you will make it NeverTheLess.  Because of your goal, remember that making it might mean doing not just what you feel like but even those you don’t feel like but are required of you.

Here is to your success!

Bidemi