I love finding excellent reflective questions that make me think deeply. If you are a frequent reader of the newsletter, you are clearly able to see my commitment to trying to provide those types of questions for you. This week, I read a reflective question that gave me pause for multiple days and thus, I would like to share it with you.
The question was: AM I TRYING MY BEST OR AM I JUST TELLING MYSELF I AM?
My personal interpretation of this question was phrased a bit differently in my head. I asked myself, “What if when I thought I was giving 100 percent I really wasn’t?”
One of the things I have long prided myself on is my ability to grind. Until I developed actual leadership skills my core philosophy to achieve results was to outwork and outread everybody else. To be honest, the foundation of my self-image and ego is not based on being smart or talented, it is largely based on being willing and able to go harder for longer than the common person.
This is so much a part of who I am that it prompts my wife to frequently remind me when I get angry that I am fatigued that I am simply a human.
The issue is that I know from hard workouts that there is ALMOST always much more there on the other side of when I wanted to quit. If it is true for my body, is it also true for my brain and my ability to produce high quality work? As a result, this has been my mental challenge this week.
So, the question in my head morphed again into this: What is on the other side of my perceived 100 percent effort when it comes to my job, my family, my creative work?
After many hours of thinking, my takeaway was simple and it related back to the original version of how the question was asked. There is nothing on the other side of 100 percent, BUT I do often confuse legitimately hard effort with giving something my 100 percent. Said differently, I found that despite the fact I pride myself on hard work, I often congratulate myself for, just that, hard work and NOT for giving something my absolute best.
So, to answer the original question – frequently I tell myself I am going as hard as I can and I am simply not. I am satisfied with going hard and in some cases going harder than everyone else around me. But that does mean I am giving it my absolute best.
My advice for you is to take a long, hard look in the mirror and be honest with yourself when it comes to this question. What I have found has motivated me to move forward with more intentionality and focus. I hope this has the same impact on you.
REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS TO GUIDE SOME THINKING
I ONLY WANT YOU TO THINK ABOUT ONE QUESTION THIS WEEK AND THAT IS THE ONE POSED ABOVE:
AM I TRYING MY BEST OR AM I JUST TELLING MYSELF I AM?
THE BEST THING I READ/WATCHED THIS WEEK
Unguarded by Scottie Pippen
This is a rare non-education or leadership related book recommendation. For anyone that grew up on the Chicago Bulls dynasty and/or watched The Last Dance this is a very interesting read. This is essentially Pippen’s version/rebuttal to MJs perception of the dynasty which was portrayed through The Last Dance docuseries. Easy, sometimes fun, sometimes cringy read.
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