Today we’re talking about Stop Doing Your Best. I talk about being organized and productive and how I was and was not using my planners to their full potential over the years. I talk about all things in Episode 1- The Courage to Implement Your Clarity, which you can listen to here. I realize that I don’t give myself quite enough time when working on projects. I’m an overachiever sometimes and I have a tendency to get mad at my creative process or get upset because I want to go above and beyond. Have you ever had that feeling? In my latest “frustration” I’m repurposing content. I felt Divine Intuition telling me NOT to start anything new. I repurposed some older videos and turned them into “podcasts” on Youtube since the videos were from 2020. I figured no one was searching for those so I found a way to make them more relevant. I had the idea to do snippets of each video and I did 4 snippets of the previous 13 videos. (If you’re curious, here’s the playlist to watch those short episodes: Self-Leadership in the Workplace). Why 4 each? I do not know and I ended up with 52 Clips. They didn’t take long to create but now I had to have an effective plan to post and schedule these 52 clips across all my social media platforms. In theory, I knew I could schedule them but then I realized that I didn’t have a scheduler for all platforms so a few of them were going to be posted manually. Major time suck! I was going to schedule a little at a time but whether it was either the overachiever in me or the conviction of having the clips completed and not wanting to waste anymore time, I thought, just go ahead and do them all right now!
Since I don’t have a solid scheduler for all platforms, I started to become frustrated and annoyed. In my mind, scheduling these clips wouldn’t take that much time, but in reality they did. I had to put off publishing my newsletter and some other projects because I was so determined to finish this major project I created for myself. Everytime I tried to schedule a few batches and return to my writing, I could only think about completing the scheduling of the 52 clips. Every time I sat down to write, I couldn’t get into the groove of writing. I couldn’t think of a full outline, which is typically an easy thing for me to do. Because of the lingering unfinished business in my mind, I had to stop and go schedule out the rest of the content. I know some people schedule content weekly or bi-weekly, but I already had the 52 clips done and I just want to get them out there. I felt incomplete in my mind. There were so many unfinished tasks on my list and I told myself that it was OK because I was just doing my best. However, THAT was the problem. I know it sounds counterproductive but I was listening to my Money Mindset coach (you can check her out here) and she said the same thing. She said that there’s a difference between focusing on doing your best and doing whatever it takes! I sat there for a moment to let it sink in and I understood what she was saying. The latter approach has given me the most results but I still find myself operating in a “just doing my best” mindset at times. I’m not talking about anyone who’s really struggling and truly giving their best. I think there are people who are giving their best, which is their version of doing whatever it takes. But for people who are top producers, high-performers, and go-getters you know how to go after things and you get things done. Your 60% can look like 110% to most people. I’m talking to you. I invite you to call yourself out and notice the difference between doing whatever it takes and just doing your best.
Back to the scheduling story. As I was thinking about scheduling the 52 video clips, doing my best was telling myself that doing enough for this month was fine because I have so many. Also, I have so many other things to do. However, I knew subconsciously that I wouldn’t be satisfied until I did whatever it took to get it done, even if I had to put another task on the back burner for the time being. Doing whatever it takes can look different for everyone. For me, just doing my best would be me saying “at least I got 10 clips scheduled today”. For the average person or someone afraid to be on social media, that could be amazing. But if you know that’s not your excuse like me, you have to uncover the real reason why you’re procrastinating on doing whatever it takes to get a task DONE. I know this wasn’t the highest producing activity I could be doing at the time but it needed to be done until I hire another VA or SM manager so I had to suck it up and “getter done”.
If you’re wanting to go higher in some areas of your life and if you’re wanting to do more than what you’re currently doing, you have to show up differently. I’m sure you’re used to achieving goals but perhaps you’re not achieving your real goals because you’re just doing your best instead of doing whatever it takes. Consider these examples:
If it’s wanting to get a better body are you making your workouts optional or non-negotiable? Are you willing to get up earlier or stay up later to get the workout in or prepare your meal to stay on track?
If you have a goal to write a book, are you like “well, I wrote two pages this week I did my best” or are you willing to get up earlier or you stay up later to write and not move until you reach a certain word count?
Feel free to insert your own examples. Sometimes you have to call yourself out and you do have to coach yourself. While I am a coach who believes in having the support of a coach to see things you cannot see for yourself, I also know that the ultimate decision to execute is yours. The real results come when you have to show up for yourself in between the coaching sessions, while knowing that you have access to support. Either way, the coach cannot and will not do the work for you. Deep down inside only you know if you’re just doing your best or doing whatever it takes to reach your goal.
I think that saying “I’m just doing my best” is a cop-out for a lot of us. Disclaimer – don’t be upset with the messenger, just look at the results you’re getting in the different areas of your life and that will be an indicator. There is a difference between people who have what they want and the people who don’t. I used to think that these people had the upper hand in some way. I felt that way before I realized that I was experiencing some form of learned victim mentality (you can listen to that episode here). I’m not talking about people who are actual victims. I’m talking about those of us who act like “martyrs of success” when we’re only making excuses. For example, if you say “I really want to start this business but I’m working all these hours at a job that I hate so I don’t have time to work on my business idea because I’m so drained.” That’s a choice to suffer instead of being successful. Instead, think about what you can do in that job to make sure you don’t hate it and protect your energy.
I give several examples in the full Episode 9 here. If this is your story, I’m not discounting the fact that you probably do hate your job and are drained, but when we look at people who are highly successful and accomplished, and it’s not just money or status, they do above and beyond regardless of their current situations. I invite you to go listen to anybody’s story and listen to the full episode where I talk about Gary Vee. You may ask why you have to do whatever it takes if nobody is watching. Who’s really going to judge the difference between just doing your best versus doing whatever it takes? More people than you know. Our purpose in life is to have a positive impact on those around us by directly or indirectly by operating in our gifts and talents at the highest level. When we don’t, those around us suffer in some way. I believe that we are the solution to a lot of the problems we see but most of those solutions will never be realized because many of us are just out here doing our best. I think sometimes when we don’t have a clear focus on what to do next that leads to an optional attitude and mindset. When you don’t have a clear focus or don’t know what you’re aiming at it’s easy to let yourself off the hook and say “well, I was just doing my best”. I don’t want that for you and I hope that this reading caused you to take a closer look at your daily habits and notice what projects you’ve been putting off and why you’re doing so.
Let me know what resonates with you and feel free to share your thoughts below.
NOTE – whenever you’re ready- here are more ways you can drastically increase abundance (impact, influence and income) in every area of your life:
- Let’s have a Curious Connection Call –
- Grab a copy of my book Embracing Grit for Greatness to see how you can make the shift to Courage over Clarity to achieve your goals and transform your life.
- Watch this video from my vidcast Ep. 9 here
- Learn more about why you do what you do by taking my complimentary Personal Empowerment assessment.
Your Partner in Possibilities,
~Dr. V
Vernita Glenn-White, Ph.D.
Certified & Credentialed Life Changer
The School of Brilliance