Do you remember back-to-school night? It’s an opportunity for parents to meet with teachers and hear what their kids will be learning that year. When I was a youngster, if I was lucky, the session ran long so my parents didn’t have a chance to meet one-on-one with my teacher afterward. After all, the inevitable question many parents ask is, “How’s my kid doing?” The answer you don’t want to hear is, “Frank’s doing fine, but he’s not living up to his potential.” In our household, that was the kiss of death. Do you always do your best?

There are many reasons why folks don’t try their best. First, it’s easy. After all, it’s tough to put your heart into everything you do. Second, some don’t do their best because they’re not paid to go the extra mile. (Ouch.) Others like to think they’re getting away with something, while some folks are just plain lazy. Whatever the cause, it’s easy for one-time behavior to turn into a bad habit that can plague you for the rest of your life.

Doing your best isn’t an activity; it’s a mindset.

The Benefits of Doing Your Best

Doing your best affects every facet of your life. So don’t give it a second thought. If it’s worth your doing, give it all you’re worth! Here are five benefits from doing your best.

Achieve personal satisfaction. At the end of the day, you can take great pride in your accomplishments and the obstacles that you conquered along the way.

Enhance your personal growth. Every time you push yourself to do a little better, you’ll improve your knowledge, skills, and performance. The converse is also true. If you settle for mediocrity, you’ll ultimately become mediocre.

Improve your self-esteem. What can be better than attaining a goal that you had your heart set on? Plus, you can take great comfort knowing that if you did it once, you can do it again. That has confidence written all over it.

Take a bow. Some people get rewards handed to them on a silver platter. When you work hard and get rewarded, you can take great pride knowing that you earned it.

Live without regrets. You’ll never look back and say, “Even though I could, I didn’t.”

Always Do Your Utmost — No Less

While doing something half-heartedly may seem easy, lowering your personal standards will blow up right in your face. Before you know it, your body gets weak, your mind gets stale, and you begin to accept mediocrity as a reasonable standard. What’s more, if you don’t try, you’ll never realize your dreams — even though you have all the potential in the world.

If you don’t do your best, you’re only cheating yourself.

Ask yourself what’s holding you back from making an extra effort. If I asked you to run five miles, you might say you can’t do it. But if I asked you to run as far as you could, and add a couple of yards each day, I’m sure you’d say that’s doable. That same mindset applies to most areas of your life. Every extra effort that you make each day will make a huge difference down the road — because it’s a cumulative building process. As Coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning is not everything — but making the effort to win is.” Always give 110%. It’s the extra 10% that everyone remembers.

Do You Give It Your All?

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Additional Reading:
You Can Do Better
Who’s Your Hero
If You’re Not Proud, You’re Not Done
Mediocre Behavior Is a Choice
Never Lower Your Standards. Never!
Do You Have a Victim Mentality?

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