Being Point

Tag: excellence

  • Some Of The Key Indicators For Whether Or Not You Have Done Your Personal Best

    Some of the indicia of whether or not we have done our personal best include:

    Have we improved a situation both for ourselves and others?

    Have we grown by stretching ourselves beyond what is easy and convenient?

    Have we stopped and chosen where we want to focus our best efforts, all the while knowing that best efforts in one area are likely to result in less than best efforts in another?

    Lincoln said, “I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.”

    Being wiser each day, learning from mistakes, understanding hidden dynamics that impact our ability to act from our best selves:  how do you feel about these as indicators of doing your best?

  • Is “Doing Your Best” Situational And Circumstantial?”

    Among the most challenging things about the concept “best” is that it is inherently subjective in most cases.  “Best” implies reaching a particular level of excellence – but isn’t that level a moving target depending on the circumstances?  Some days, it’s our “best” to be super-productive, and other days, our “best” may be no more than getting out of bed and going about the day.

    So is “best” circumstantial and situational?  And, if so, what, if any, value does the notion of “best” have?  When you’re buying an appliance, “good, better, best” actually seems to work because you can usually quantify the feature set and ascribe it some increasing value leading to “best.”

    In understanding your personal best, how much do you take into consideration the circumstances with which you’re dealing?  Do you believe that personal best is objective or subjective?  Is the value of “personal best” limited to just another way to be inspired, or is there genuine utility in its use?

  • How Has Perfection Affected Your Life?

    This week’s topic – perfection – has caused much suffering among so many people because it has been interpreted to be the only acceptable way to be – even though being perfect is a completely unrealistic goal.

    Most likely, what we are really talking about when we speak about perfection is a high degree of excellence or mastery in a particular activity where “perfect scores” are attainable. Neither of those terms is absolute, yet “perfection” connotes the ultimate ideal – the best there is or ever could be.

    In the rational light of day, perhaps nothing is perfect . . . with the exception of love if it is unadulterated and unconditional and pure.

    How have you been affected by visions of perfection? Have you felt pressured by family, friends, peers and / or our culture to be without flaw? Even though you might have questioned the true ability of anyone to be perfect, how have the messages about perfection affected your self-image your self-assessment, and your assessment of others? Is there a rational alternative to our cultural addiction to perfection?