Kumar's Blog

What does doing our best actually mean?

Achieving the best results or outcomes?

Putting in the most dedicated effort?

Doing things absolutely right and true irrespective of the consequences?

Following instructions we are given to the letter?

Getting someone else to recognise and acknowledge that we have done our best?

To want to do our best can be confusing when we haven't clarified to ourselves what it actually means to do our best.

The problem is, it can be any or all of the above, and more, of course.

I've often heard comments like "this person may not be a good fit for this company / role", and have felt that way about some candidates I have interviewed. 

This is true of candidates evaluating companies as well, when they feel that a particular company or a role may not be a good fit for them.

Either when we're evaluating a candidate, or a role for ourselves, or a change in situation in general for us, like moving to a new city or a new home, the questions to ask are:

Will my current way of doing things help me succeed in the new situation? If yes, it's a good fit already.

Am I willing to change the way I do things to be in line with what it needs to be to succeed in the new situation? If yes, this is not an immediate good fit, but there's potential.

Will what is needed to succeed in the new situation change to match the way I currently do things? This almost never happens, but if there is objective evidence of this, this has potential as well.

But we are often in the last category where we are unwilling or reluctant to change how we do things and that's not what's needed to succeed in the new situation. Recognising this is recognising a lack of fit.

We live lives other than our own every day.

In the movies and shows that we watch.

In the sports that we watch.

In the books that we read.

In the video games that we play.

In the stories we hear.

These are all fabulous ways to experience new perspectives by putting ourselves in the shoes of characters who face worlds and situations we couldn't possibly put ourselves in for real, at least not in the immediate moment.

It's all great, until the time we draw causal inferences and try to emulate what we see in our own lives. 

A sample size of one is never reliable to base our decisions on.

 In professional football, strong tackles are common, injuries are common.

The stakes of winning or losing are very high and the players play accordingly, by giving it their all.

In amateur football that you and I play, however, this isn't quite the case. 

We go easy on tackles, we are less committed to winning the ball in some situations. We'd rather let the opponent run and score than risk an injury to ourselves.

That doesn't mean we just go through the motions. 

We still play a good game, and we give it as much as the stakes merit. 

After all, here, having fun, having a good workout and not getting injured are more important than winning the game.

At the workplace, we tend to think in a binary mode. 

Either we are all in and prioritising work ahead of everything else, leading to working long hours, or we are quiet quitting and just going through the motions, doing just enough to get by and not be noticed in a negative way.

There is, however, a gradient in the middle. 

We just need to be clear about what our job means to us and do our best within that frame. If it means doing our best work, but still ensuring we have time for everything else that is important in our lives, then that is what we do.

Companies tend to think in binary too. 

The ones that don't are the ones with a great work culture.

The Science on living longer continues to progress, pushing our lifespans further up. 

The secrets to a healthier lifestyle that leads to living longer is accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. 

Apart from the numerical lifespan, there is the perception of a longer life. 

Our perception of the time we spend varies depending on the richness of the memories we create.

A succession of similar activities and experiences will lead to a compression of our memories, giving us a perception of lesser time spent. 

While novel activities and experiences will lead to a richer set of memories, expanding our perception of time spent. 

This is why we remember in great detail everything that we did during our vacation a year ago, while we can't distinctly differentiate one day from another from the past month. 

While we can live longer through a healthier lifestyle, we can live longer still by creating richer memories of the things we do.

(Hat-tip to David Eagleman)