Giving Your Best

What is “your best”? The best you can possibly give, with the knowledge and skills you have, at that place and time.

I recently volunteered for a position that began to grow and morph into something different then I originally expected. And I began to grow resentful about the time it was taking and the growing list of tasks. My performance declined, and my supervisor started to chase me to get things delivered. I had lost my motivation — my original drive for the role. 

And so I was asked, “Is this a role you really want to take on?” And I said, “No”. And I was then asked, “Did you give your best?”. And I wasn’t sure. Did I?

When I looked back on it, I realized that I really did. In those moments, in those circumstances, I did give my best. AND, it wasn’t enough to get the job done at the quality required. So I stepped down.

Circumstances change. And the question to consider is, “Are you giving your best?” AND “Is it fulfilling the requirements of the role that’s needed?” Are you being conscious, responsible and choosing powerfully? Or lazy, un-committed, and living in complaint. Have you given your best, so that if you leave something, you leave with no regrets, you finish with honour, and your integrity in tact?

Reflections from Beyond the Chair
by Andrew McAleese, Owner of La Luma Salon & Academy