“Concentrate every minute like a Roman” —Marcus Aurelius, Meditations.
No matter what you do, do your best. It can be the work at your job, creative work, or simply a hobby. Your actions are always in your control. So give your hundred percent every time. Don’t hold yourself back because of other people’s opinions or any other reason.
You think you know what your full capabilities are. But, most of the time, you might surprise yourself. Focus on what it is that you need to do, what is in front of you. Do it with everything you have got.
Avoid all the distractions until you have completed the work. Is that the best you can do? No? Do more. Yes? Move on to the next.
Do Your Best At Work
At your job, usually, your boss gives you some tasks to complete. Most of us do it only because it is our “job.” We just want to get it done and impress our boss. Sometimes, that might be enough to get you to do the work. But did you do it with your full potential?
Even if it is a small task, give it your best. In other words, “Crush it!” Don’t do it to impress your boss or just for the sake of doing it. Do it for yourself. Do it so that you can feel good about it because you gave it everything you could.
The joy of completing the work will be different. You will feel proud. You will feel motivated. Further, your confidence level will increase. Ask yourself, “Did I give everything I have got?” If not, do it more until you have given your everything.
Do Your Best At Creating
If you are into creative work like art, music, writing, filmmaking, and so on, you have more reasons to give your best. In this field, it is more about expressing yourself than impressing others—your boss, friends, or colleagues.
Your job is to find yourself. If you are an artist, for example, when working on a piece of art, give it your full effort. Avoid all distractions. It is good to do it in a time when distractions are minimum (in the morning, for example). Do it in a space where you feel inspired or creative.
However, doing your best does not mean you have to be perfect. In the creative field especially, perfectionism is a success killer. Instead, focus on doing it with your full potential. And then, stop. Move on to the next. Don’t judge your work. It does not matter whether the outcome was good or bad or excellent. What matters is that you did your best.
Further, in this field, becoming better is by creating more work. As you keep going, the results will become better as well. So, focus on doing the best at what is in front of you right now.
Do Your Best at Learning
Learning is an essential skill. Being good at it could make you successful. So, you have to do your best at it.
Suppose you want to learn how to play the piano. Of course, you cannot be good at it from the very first day. But, you can give your best effort at learning what you need to on the first day. Suppose it requires 30 days for you to become good at it. Do your best for the next 30 days.
Each day is a new day to learn something. Doing your best at learning does not mean spending the whole day on it. You have to give time for every task. For example, decide that you want to practice the piano for an hour every day. Now, do your best in that particular hour of the day.
Final Thoughts
Your actions are in your control. What you focus on expands. Whatever you do, do it with your full potential. It does not matter if it is a small thing or a big one. Just do it the best.
It is not about impressing others or getting the best outcome. It is about doing what you can do with maximum effort in a given moment.
From now onwards, whatever it is that you do, do it the best you can. Ask yourself, “Did I do it with my full potential? Is this all I’ve got?” If the answer is a no, do it better. If it’s a yes, move on to your next thing.
Marcus Aurelius says that you have to do what is in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, with willingness and justice. Further, you have to free yourself from all the distractions. That is also essential.
“Yes, you can—if you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable.” —Marcus Aurelius, Meditations.
