Do Your Best

Every job is good if you do your best and work hard. A man who works hard stinks only to the ones that have nothing to do but smell. ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

by Pete Ferguson

So often we get hung up in a search for perfection that we forget to take action today - and do our best with what we have in front of us at the moment.

Always Do Your Best. Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.~ Miguel Angel Ruiz

In 2007 I found myself on a plane headed to India. I had just been thrown into an investigation of major loss of equipment and the team I was about to manage was in complete disarray. Employee sentiment towards our services was as negative as I have encountered, and my experience in working in Asia was limited to setting up an office in Shanghai two years earlier.

The previous few months were grueling as I was redefining my value within our team and now I was heading into a culture I knew nothing about only armed with my love for people and faith that things were going to work out.

To say that I felt a bit overwhelmed is an understatement.

I had two options - quit, or man up and take action. I'm very glad I chose the latter, because that has made all of the difference.

It's fun to be on the edge. I think you do your best work when you take chances, when you're not safe, when you're not in the middle of the road, at least for me, anyway. ~ Danny DeVito

The self-doubt which evolves from thinking our best today is too far from perfect to try -paralyzes us into inaction.

It keeps us from moving forward - ironically, because we think if we stay still right now, we can wait for a shot at perfection to leap-frog us forward. But what we do not realize is that in staying still we are not frozen in time, we are moving backwards as life moves forward.

Forward movement - no matter how small or imperfect - is still forward movement. Taking immediate action is what saved me in India - and throughout Asia - and throughout my whole life. The  VP of Asia saw my action, believed in me, and made investments towards my recommendations and in the end we stopped the thefts and employees ranked our services as one of the top reasons they enjoyed coming to work.

Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle will never know. ~ Charles Kingsley

Build up your confidence by taking action - no matter how small - in a new area today. Music, writing, dancing, drawing, painting, poetry - wherever your passion lies hidden. Break out, man! Dare to overcome the fear of inaction and move forward with conviction!

When confronted with a roadblock, march forward. To heck with any obstacles that get into your way!

[Photo Credit: The World of ElleSee]

If you have a defined passion, then it should not be stopped. You need to fight your way with, over, around, or through the opposition.

A problem is your chance to do your best. ~ Duke Ellington

Take on the impossible. Don't fret the small stuff just yet. The answers will come through action. Get started quickly and make a mess. The first 19 failures will each school you on how to do it better the next time. And then the 20th time it clicks, and you are wiser and better educated on the process.

[c[Photo Credit: Foodspotting.com]

God luck and God Speed!

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