On Not Doing My Best

[sek8586]

There's been a thought crossing in and out of my mind recently. Maybe it's coming from this work-heavy academic life I've found myself in, but maybe it's more than that. Maybe it's a new life-stage sort of philosophy. (And maybe it's just wrong.)

Ever since I can remember, if I'm working on something I care about, I've measured my success by

Comments

[astrogeek01]

We always have to make choices, on how much effort we can put into any one thing. And it is good to realize that enjoying what you're doing is really really important.

[skerman]

So, I definitely have thought about this before too, and what about making a distinction between "doing your best" and "trying your hardest"? It's assumed that they're identical, but sometimes what you can't do better at is precisely how much you can try at any given time. Like, your trying muscles get tired.

And/or, I think part of what happens when you're encouraged to "do your best" (or try your hardest) at school, or a skill, or whatever, is that you learn what that's like. So then you can decide whether you want to go there at any given moment, even though you don't have to live there.