Ever since I was a kid parents, teachers, family, & friends have always told me to give my best. But I never knew what that really meant. I used to think it meant try hard or put in lots of effort but I've come to realize it's much more than that.

It's not just about effort

If giving your best was just about effort, then anyone who put lots of effort into anything would be wildly successful. When you put lots of effort into something, chances are you're wasting lots of energy that could be applied on something more important. Sometimes you should conserve your energy rather than using it. Think about the efficiency of a hybrid gasoline-electric car, vs. a large V8 pickup truck. Both get you to the same destination. Except one uses far less energy to get there.

It's about being smart

Rather than wasting energy being busy, trying hard, and working yourself into exhaustion, step back and look at what it is you're trying to accomplish. There's probably an easier way of doing it. That's the way you have to think. When water runs down a mountain what does it do? Does it try to climb over big rock and hills? No. It finds away around them. Water always finds the easiest path downwards. Be like water and find the easier route foward. You'll find yourself having more energy to do what's important, which in turn increases you're overall performance.

Have the Vision

Have a vision of where you want to go. Before you embark on any mission, its important to know where you're going. Having a vague idea or mental image isn't enough. You need to fully construct a detailed mental picture of what the final result will look like. Use your imagination to fill in all the details. When you have a clear vision, you give your subconscious mind an intended destination. Then your subconscious will provide you with insights into how to make this possible.
 

Create a Detailed Plan

Once you have a clear vision, it's time to plan the steps you must take to arrive at that vision. When you plan your way forward, you want to answer the following questions: What resources do I have? What resources do I need? What can I do with what resources I have? How can I obtain the resources I don't have? What is the first thing I need to do? Most importantly, continue to ask yourself, What's next? When you can answer all of these questions and organize them into a linear & logical format, you have a great plan. :-)

Have the Passion

Be passionate about what you're doing. This is very important. Without passion, you're likely to be completely lost and unmotivated to move forward. Passion comes from loving what you're doing. You can create passion by focusing on your personal motivator. Your personal motivator is simply your reason for wanting to accomplish this in first place. When you know your purpose for action, you have a reason to keep moving foward. This unconscious force constantly drives you foward creates a deep passion for what you are doing.

Always Stay Focused on the Result

Giving your best effort also means ignoring anything in your way, and focusing on the result. Whenever you set out to achieve anything, there will be perceived roadblocks. Notice the word perceived. There aren't really physically things blocking you(well maybe sometimes), they are temporary obstacles that you will need to find creative solutions for in order to keep going. Always stay focused on where you're going, and how to get there.

Strive for Peace of mind

Pease of mind finally comes when you know you're giving your best. When you take smart action, have a vision, create a plan, have unlimited passion, and stay focused on the result, you are truly giving your best effort. You're using your energy wisely to accomplish something in the fastest and easiest way possible. This is when things really start happening. When you give your best, you'll feel great about yourself and find further motivation and inspiration to accomplish more.

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