We’ve all heard it and have said it. Just do your best. I’m doing my best. I tried my best. Let’s talk about our best. Our best is a personal thing. It can’t be compared to the best of someone else. It also changes every day. It’s not set in stone. Our best one day may be our worst another day. The best we can do when we have a to-do list a mile long is going to be different than the best we can do when we don’t have anything else going on. It’s also going to be different if we are having sensory overload, recovering from rejection sensitivity, haven’t eaten, are hyper focusing, having a lot of brain fog, etc.
An expression that may help, and that you may have heard is “anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.” That’s sort of the flip side of what I’m saying. Brushing your teeth for 1 seconds is better than not brushing them at all. Going for a 15-minute walk is better than not exercising at all. Eating a piece of toast is better than not eating at all. Writing an introduction paragraph to that essay is better than not starting it at all.
Respect yourself and your best. Are you able to go the extra mile and do everything you need to do and more today? Great! Is it hard to get out of bed and do one chore? That’s okay, too. Though I will say if your energy is depleting noticeably, is lasting for several days, and is worsening, go see a doctor. Listen to what your mind/body is telling you.
What’s your best today? Are you okay with what your best is today? What would it take to be okay with it?
Is doing more possible? What’s allowing more to be done? What’s preventing it? Is it a short-term prevention? What do you need to conquer the prevention, or temporarily tolerate the prevention?
If your best is at a lower level today, what would it take to get it to a higher level tomorrow? How do-able is it? What do you need? How can you get what you need?
How can you communicate what your best is, and what you need, to others? How can you set your boundaries with them?
Be kind to yourself and honor what you can do on any given day. Your best is ever changing and ever growing. You cannot compare your best with someone else’s best. We’re all fighting our own battles and there’s a lot of unseen activity going on that impacts everyone’s best. Be nice to yourself and take care of yourself and just do your best .
