[September 18, 2019] There is common advice that in your life, at work, or play that “all you can do is your best.” I disagree. The advice assumes you know what your best might be for any given situation. The paramount thing for any of us is never to accept doing your best; always push beyond your limits even if it means occasional failure.
I made it a simple rule to always surround myself with folks that are smarter, stronger, and more creative than me. They provided a lighted path to follow by showing the “secrets” of the trade and by providing additional motivation. A U.S. Army Drill Sergeant used to scream obscenities at us trainees in Basic Combat Training; yes, he was a real-world motivator. We all did far more than what we thought we could do. And we didn’t simply do our best; we did much better.
Humans are tougher than we might think and that is a good thing because doing your best is not good enough. In the enlightened age of the 21st Century, luxuries and technological advances have spoiled us and hidden our true abilities. One example of how far humans can go is by looking at individual and team sport competitions. New records are set each season. If we were to abide by “doing your best,” no one would ever break best past performances.
There were many field training exercises in my past days as an Army officer that showed us that our team could do better than we thought possible. We were able to travel faster, shoot better, and communicate more clearly than our preparations had readied us. When under the microscope of focused, expert evaluation, we excelled. Our progress was more than about us but also by our senior commander who pushed us to the outer boundaries of our strength and equipment limits.
During basic training, we were scheduled for a five-mile forced march in the heat of a Northwest Louisiana summer. For the Infantry, this is a short hike, but that day was special. Drill Sergeant Bryant was not scheduled for the march, but he was the kind of man who put up with no excuses and he showed up unexpectedly. Failure was not in his lexicon; he didn’t even know what ‘lexicon’ meant. But he had something for us that day, surprising us all.
Drill Sergeant Bryant decided to change the distance of the forced march from five miles (he saw this as a sissy requirement) to 10 miles. For those new to marching over rough terrain with a 50-pound rucksack, the doubling of the distance amounted to something we knew we could not do. There would be dropouts from fatigue, sprained ankles and twisted knees, and a list of problems we could not foresee; like one of our bridges being out.
It took all day, but we all finished. Those who dropped out or were hurt and couldn’t walk were picked up and carried. No one died. No one was left behind. We learned a valuable lesson that day and that was that we could do better than our best.
At first, I didn’t get what this article could possibly be about. Forever I’ve been told to just do my best. Little did I think that I could do MORE than what I thought was my best. CHEERS!
Great to hear from you again, Joe. Good to see your comments as always.
We never really know our capability. That is why we must always go beyond our “best” (that what we think is our best, anyway).
Interestingly, I’ve been telling the young men in my community this for decades. Now that someone else is saying it, maybe I can get a few of them to listen. Thank you, Gen Satterfield for backing me up on this very important idea.
This is why I keep coming back to this leadership website and giving the best ones to my friends.
Another exceptional article. I hope young folks are reading this.
“When Your Best Is Not Good Enough”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/resilience_b_4357363
Thanks Doug for bringing up this article. It’s okay and does make the point but it is weak on carrying thru the argument. What is does is recognize that our best doesn’t always cut it.
Another excellent article, Gen. Satterfield and thanks for helping make my day. I now share your articles with my friends who have joined us here.
Here is a little secret; you don’t know what you best is! That little bit of advice can be found in nearly every ancient piece of writing that you will find. Just look and you will see it threaded about. I personally like reading the Bible because that fact is reinforced so many times, it’s hard to keep track. I like the idea that others figured this out long ago and told stories about those who pushed beyond their best. The story of the slaying the dragon is just one.
“Jelly” you the man! Great comment and welcome back to Gen. Satterfield’s blog. Hope to see an article from you in the near future. We have commented on it for a while.
I spent time in the US Army and I will say unequivocally that they make you go beyond your best. I hate it when people say, well it’s okay you failed or came in second place because you did your best. Get over it, your best is simply not good enough.
College snowflakes will never figure this out and no one has the balls to show them. That is why the young generation is failing at everything they do except sit in their parents basement and play videogames.
Well, certainly the college profs or administrators won’t show them. They lack the moral courage. They fear losing their job to the mob. I could care less what happens to them. But when they get into the real world where I am, I’ll just sit back with my popcorn and watch them fall apart.
Sometimes you have to fail before you can succeed.
Don’t get me started on the weak, effete college students who run around my town like they own the place and want to tell me that I’m some slug on the dead body of society. They believe they are morally superior to everyone else, just like all the past dictators in the world.
All the liberals I know are wannabe dictators or do-gooders. None of them have a clue about what makes the world go around.
Very good point. I always tell my soldiers that doing their best is for the uneducated and unmotivated. Push beyond your best and you will be a better person for it.
Good one, Army Capt. “Uneducated and unmotivated,” sounds like college students to me.
?
Great point. Thanks!
Army Captain is the best. I like his comments; short and to the point. I especially like him because he reinforces what Gen. Satterfield has to say.
Spot on comment.