Blog Posts

Hey friends, welcome back to the blog.  When I worked at a residential treatment facility we often referenced a book, The Four Agreements, which is a self help book with a ”practical guide to personal freedom.”  The concepts in this book include being impeccable with your word (always speak your truth), don’t make assumptions, don’t take things personally, and always do your best.         

Today I want to focus on the concept of “Doing your Best.”  There is a common belief that most everyone is doing their best in life based on their own limitations, awareness, and resources.   Not everyone’s best looks the same.  And sometimes even our own best looks different.  The idea of doing your best is that you give what you can in all circumstances while acknowledging  that it can vary based on your current state.  This ideally leads to less self judgement, less criticism, and less regret.  

Let’s explore what can help people be successful in doing their best.  

What is our Best?

Use awareness to determine capacity.  If you struggle with awareness I would first suggest starting with increasing self awareness.  This may include daily body scans to see how you are feeling as well as daily check ins to see what your needs are and if they are being met.  Sometimes doing our best may look different based on what our current capacity is.  Sometimes giving 100% actually looks more like what you consider 20%.  Capacity can be determined by a lot of factors such as sleep, energy levels, stress, pain levels, time, etc.

Is Perfection the Goal?

Progress over perfection.  Doing your best takes away the comparison to others and focuses more on what your maximum efforts and personal growth looks like.  A lot of times effort means putting in an honest attempt and not giving up easily.  Doing your best personally means trying to improve your performance over time and looking at improving and learning as a continuous process over time.

Consider Circumstances and Resources  

Doing your best can vary based on what the situation is, what resources are available to you, and what the circumstance itself may be.  Acknowledging that your best may not always be the best possible outcome you could imagine but that it is still the most you could achieve given the context.  For example, when I have spent time in the hospital due to my daughter’s medical condition my best is going to be more limited compared to what it may be at home.  I may not be able to eat as well or move my body as much as I would like to.  I also don’t sleep well in hospitals which means my ability to function and manage the stress itself reduces.  So curbing expectations of myself, others, or the situation itself can help me be more realistic and less judgmental of myself in limited capacity situations.  This idea of doing your best also emphasizes the importance of making the most of situations, even when facing challenges.  This may look like saying to myself, “if I am going to be in a hospital I can still take walks around or engage in play with my daughter when she is up to it.”  Trust me when I say that this one has been a challenge for me as well.

Consider your values and what is important to you.  Is it important to you to be perfect?  Is growth important?  How about self-acceptance?  Effort and intention are valuable.  

Growth and Acceptance 

The idea of doing your best helps to build more self-acceptance.  It can be a way to accept yourself and your limitations.  Accepting our personal limitations helps us to grow, it helps us to stop trying to strive for unrealistic perfection.  It can be helpful to learn and grow into your personal best and your personal limitations instead of looking at what you see other people doing or what society may say.  Acceptance can also be important when it comes to accepting situations as they are and not trying to control things outside of our control.  

In the End – Keep moving forward!

“In essence, “doing your best” is about giving your all, striving for improvement, and accepting the situation as it is, all while maintaining a positive and growth-oriented mindset.” 

Thanks for reading, until next time.

Emilie Barragan, LCSW 

“Tackling emotional and physical pain.” – Therapeuo Health