Doing Your Best

If you’re not going to work hard, then quit

Keeping your priorities straight can be difficult in the hustle and bustle of daily life. Deadlines make us rush through projects or assignments; pressures to impress may make us less honest or true to our personal ethics or dedication, and we may sacrifice our creative talent in order to accommodate certain demands.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. While we would like to say you can hit the “stop” button and take some deep breaths, the reality is that any changes need to be made in real time. So, if you are someone who is familiar with any of those ideas presented above, take a few moments just to pose one question: Are you doing your best?

It does not matter if you are a business owner or an individual; ask yourself if you are doing your honest best with every task you tackle. If you say something along the lines of, “Yes, but…” then you are not doing your best. While compromise may be part of teamwork and collaboration, your dedication to doing your best doesn’t mean you must sacrifice talent and ethics.

Here are a few tips for checking yourself every day and determining if you are truly doing your best:

• Do you have the time to take up the work? If not, don’t take any further challenges
• Do you feel comfortable with your name on the work? If not, you’re obviously not at your best
• Are you comfortable taking someone’s money for the work? If you hesitate, you’re not doing it right by your own standards

A famous notion in the world of business says that you shouldn’t give anything but your best, but also have a good contract. Here too, though, we can see that this may not create a scenario in which you offer your very best work. That contract guarantees your compensation, and is more a show of your interest in income than with good work.

Though it seems that creative leaders and production creatives are professionals who most often find it hard to do their honest best because of their need for collaboration, teamwork, and creative input from a lot of other voices, it does not mean that there is no way for anyone to consistently do their best. (Sharma, 2014)

Emphasizing high quality, dedication to beautiful work, and passionate commitment are signs of doing your best. So, whether you are a video production professional in Dallas, a copywriter in Fort Worth, or a director in a website design firm, doing your best always yields the best work.

Here are two articles that could help you: