I love this mental exercise for personal and professional improvement.
1. Decide what you want in all the specific areas of your life
2. Describe what it would look like if you (3rd person) were doing your best
3. Ask yourself daily if you’re doing your best or just good enough
I am painfully aware when I’m not doing my “Best,” so that amplifies the painometer. I know when I’m taking the easy route and when I could give a lot more.
I believe there are two main reasons I don’t always do my best.
One, I don’t really know what my best would look and feel like if I did it.
Two, I don’t constantly ask myself if I’m doing my best in those moments.
The Exercise:
Step 1: What would an ideal business/career/love life/body/health/social-life/family-life, etc look like?
Ask yourself “what do I want?” in each of these areas? What’s the ideal outcome for you? What would you be proud to achieve in each?
Now before I get to Step 2, I have a little trick I like to use when it comes to hacking into my own brain.
I talk about myself in the third person, it makes it less personal. So instead of saying, “I would do this or that,” I rephrase it as “Brad would do this or that.” Make sense?
Step 2: What would it look like if Brad Costanzo did his best…
with his business?
with his wife?
with his friends and family?
with his health and fitness?
Step 3: Both the easiest step and the hardest. When you’re in these daily situations, ask yourself if you’re doing your best.
When I do it, I instantly know if I am or not. Shining a spotlight on your effort like this usually causes me to immediately course-correct and avoid the path of least resistance.
That doesn’t mean I do my best in everything I can. Laziness and excuses still get me. Just not as much as they used to.
And none of us will always operate at our best, but you can't hit the target if you aren't aiming for it, right?
