Cup of Inspiration

Today’s post for Tuesday, January 16^th, is inspired by the quote in my Franklin planner for today:

• “Only the mediocre are always at their best.” – Jean Giraudoux

We should always strive to do our best. This is not the same as being the best. If you are an electrician, you should do everything you can to provide your best electrical service to your customers. If you are an administrative assistant, you should work hard to be the best version of yourself at work as an administrative assistant. There will always be better electricians. There will always be better administrative assistants. However, no one can ever be better at being a better you.

What can we do to be our best selves? At work, we can make sure we devote ourselves to our work during work hours. This doesn’t mean working nonstop without taking a break. This doesn’t mean avoiding a quick little chitchat with your office mate. This does mean performing your best, and not taking short cuts that impact on the quality of your work because you don’t believe you’ll be caught. This does mean you do not put off work to your coworkers while you take care of non-emergency personal matters.

Another consideration to be our best selves is to never stop learning. There are always a few minutes in a day to learn something new. You can learn a more efficient way to perform work tasks. You can learn a simple way to help manage the household budget better. If circumstances permit, consider enrolling in a course to learn something completely new. Learning something new not only helps us in that area of knowledge, but it also helps remind us that we will never know everything. No matter how long we have performed in a role, no matter how much education we already have, there is always something in life we can learn.

Stretch yourself by continuously learning something new, continuously reviewing your work to see how you can improve, and always being your best self in the various roles you serve in life. Reminding yourself that you will never be perfect, but should always strive for it, will help you see that complacency is not an option. Along the way, forgive yourself when you do fall short of perfection, and absolutely do not compare yourself to others. Only compare your improved self to your past, to see how far you have come.