Your Best Is Not Enough
Announcer: Welcome to the 1988 New York Newsday Spelling Bee Championship! Our first speller is Tejpaul Bhatia from Locust Valley. Tejpaul, your word is Salmon.
My mind: Great, an easy word. Don’t fuck up! Remember the L!
My voice: Salmon. S — A — M
I didn’t bother finishing the word and walked off the stage defeated. My mother hugged me and said “Don’t be upset beta, you did your best.” My mother is so sweet and I love her dearly and she was doing what mothers do — trying to soothe her child.
But guess what? I am not your mother. I am a founder, a leader, a mentor, and a student of life. And I am here to tell you the truth: your best is not enough and it should never be good enough.
A mentoring conversation I have often with new startup salespeople is:
Mentee: I am doing my best, but I am not hitting my numbers.
Me: Clearly your best isn’t good enough. What can we do better?
Mentee: I’m being asked to do the impossible.
Me: Of course it is impossible. That is why you were hired.
Startup founders by definition do not understand the concept of impossible. We are wired to desire the impossible. If this sounds like you, I recommend investing in therapy, because most people in the world are not wired like us startup founders. “Normal people” believe certain things are impossible. Therefore, it is up to us, the crazy ones, to show them the truth. We do things that are impossible to raise the bar for what’s possible for everyone else.
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” — Nelson Mandela
Impossible is a belief. If you believe something is impossible, then it will not be possible for you. However, if you believe you can do the impossible, then there is no limit to what is possible for you.
“Your best” is a limiting belief. It is a social construct and a self imposed limitation. It limits what you can believe is possible.
In this environment of constant change, we need to change the playbook for success by embracing limitless possibilities. How do we make it psychologically safe to not play it safe? The goal is to accelerate continuously through uncertainty together, while preserving our mental health.
The title of this blog post, “your best is not enough,” is a play on words. It is not about you. It is not about me (although I hope I can enjoy salmon again). It is not even about the collective we. It is a challenge for startups, businesses, and teams to achieve their wildest and most impossible dreams.
Your best people, best plans, best investors, best luck, best intentions — none of it is good enough. And that is a great thing because we must improve ourselves constantly. Growth comes from learning. Learning comes from mistakes. Mistakes come from trying.
Work hard, work smart, work lucky.
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