Relative Best

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
-- Theodore Roosevelt

When I was in college I attended an Athletes in Action Ultimate Training Camp, and it was the backdrop for several of the formative moments in my philosophies about life.  One of the principals taught at these retreats which really stuck with me is that athletes should be competing for an audience of one, meaning that when practicing and competing, athletes should keep in mind that God knows their full potential and whether or not they're striving to reach it.  Whatever your stance may be regarding God, or the existence of any God, I have found this to be an incredibly powerful principal in my life for several reasons.

1. I have a set of characteristics which exist.  I am innately good at some things and innately bad at some things.  I can get better or worse, but I pretty much can't change my fundamental being.  With this as a backdrop, I can't blame myself for being right handed or blue-eyed, or credit myself for being coordinated or tall.  I have what I have.

2.  I have a set of circumstances which exist.  Sometimes my life is really hard, sometimes it's really easy.  Sometimes I control my circumstances, but sometimes things happen which are completely beyond my control.  If I wallow in wishing my circumstances were different, or take wonderful circumstances for granted, I am making a mistake.  I need to accept my circumstances as they are, do what I can to change them if I need to, and otherwise just play the game as it unfolds.

3. I have a choice whether or not to use what I have. Any given day, I can choose to make the most of that day, or I can choose to waste the day.  This does not mean that I can wake up at 5am, do 2 workouts before breakfast, work my full 10 hours, do another 3 hour workout, prepare and eat a fully perfect paleo dinner, and get 8 hours of sleep, in order to repeat the next day, as I sometimes feel I should be able to do.  Rather, it means that given the constraints I face - be it time, energy, enthusiasm, ability, injury, outside circumstances, etc. - I should do the best I can on any given day.

4. Someone out there knows whether I'm doing my best or whether I'm slacking, and I am accountable for my efforts.  If I'm honest with myself, I know whether I'm checking the boxes or whether I'm actually applying myself.  To an outside observer, it would be impossible to know the difference.  Sometimes, my not very good is better than the people around me, but I still need to step it up.  Sometimes, my absolute best effort absolutely pales in comparison, and I need to cut myself some slack.  This principal is cool because it strips away the comparison and asks me - compared to me, how am I performing?

In summary, if I knew someone who knew my full stat sheet was watching my every move, would I work and train as I do now?  I strive daily for that answer to be yes.  I want to train and work with integrity - I want to do my best each and every day.  Do I succeed?  Not always, but I do try to hold myself accountable to this principal.  Since applying it I feel my life has had more purpose and I've achieved more success.  I can't do better than my best, but I can always do better than my worst.