Begin.

It need not be some grand undertaking or the like. It can merely start as does the morning. Rise, embrace the moment and begin.

There is much to be said and valued with regard to taking on the day. Without fail, each thing, no matter how miniscule adds something deep within. It can be looking out into the back yard. Filling the birdbath. Tending to a few weeds in the garden. Watering.

All add to you. A sense of fulfillment. A source of joy. A foundation of serenity. Peace.

They take away nothing from others. They exist and are executed on your time. In the moments you find, encounter and embrace. Making you more of who you are and what you were intended to be. Nourishment for the soul.

In time, this approach will begin to add to others. They will come to recognize the sense of fulfillment in you. Joy. Serenity. And peace. They will want to find that in their days as well.

Be open to the blessings that abound in each moment. Accept and fill yourself with the grace freely given. Let it permeate your very being. Then pour it into all those around you.

Rise.

Embrace.

Begin.

To life.

“To be or not to be; that is the question…”

– William Shakespeare

To be all that currently exists within you; or not to be?

To be wholly engaged in enriching your capacity; or not to be?

To be true to all, and thine own self; or not to be?

To be entirely present for all; or not to be?

To be completely invested in the moment; or not to be?

To be of service towards the betterment of others; or not to be?

To be grounded in an attitude of gratitude; or not to be?

To be humble; or not to be?

To be guided by love; or not to be? 

To be.

Plain and simple.

The best answer.

To life. 

Or you.

Doing my best isn’t about some personal quest for perfection. That has absolutely nothing to do with this particular lesson.

Doing my best is the debt that I owe to others first, and to myself, second.

By doing my absolute best, I am showing others how much I value them; how much I love them. I am telling them in no uncertain terms that “you deserve the absolute best of me”.

You shouldn’t ever get this confused with commerce. For doing your best for others isn’t an interpersonal transaction; a “quid pro quo”. Giving others your best is never about expecting to get or getting anything in return. Giving your best to others is what you are made to do. It is the right thing to do, both for them and for you.

In doing my absolute best, I am also confirming the level of my own personal standards. It is a way of affirming what I know to be true; that I am meant to be extraordinary. The best possible version of myself. 

By making a personal commitment to do my absolute best, I can be at peace with my effort; win or lose, succeed or fail. I can “look in the mirror” and see someone I respect for giving it their best. 

By no means does this mean that I have to like the outcome. If I don’t, then I just need to work harder to do my best next time.It serves to reinforce in my heart, that my effort was the best I had to offer, when I needed to offer it.

The value of doing your best has ramifications far beyond the immediate. It sets the tone going forward, becoming synonymous with your name and your character. It precedes you everywhere you go.

By doing your best, you help ”coach up” others to aspire to always do their best. In the process, you learn what it takes to live and breathe that mindset. You gain a level of comfort operating within a personal universe marked by high expectations, dedicated to striving for optimal performance and pursuing excellence.

Once you get there, you wouldn’t want it any other way.

For them. 

Or you.

For both.

“The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But…the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”

― Martin Luther King Jr.

Too often, the notion of service to others can become skewed.

Regarded as a transaction. A form of interpersonal commerce. “If I do this, what will you do for me? ” Or, “What do I get out of it? A character revealing moment if there ever was one.

When you reach out, and offer your hand to pick someone up , the only thing they need give you is theirs.

True character in action recognizes that the getting is always in the giving.

A return on your small investment of immeasurable and lasting value.

For both.

For the making.

“The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.” — John Buchan

We are all meant to be extraordinary.

Each of us a masterpiece in our own way, with abilities and talents to be maximized, and capacities to be filled. All of which are intended to compliment the whole. For each of us is meant to have an impact. Each of us matters.

From a team perspective, it is leadership’s first mission to grasp this essential truth.

For, once you are able to see yourself in this light, then you will be able to see others from this same perspective. You will then be in a position to solicit their talents and abilities, enriching them as you begin to enrich the whole as well.

As you bring their strengths to bear and push them towards the pursuit of excellence, then work can commence on their potential. That untapped resource residing in us all. A reserve that is far more about capacity than it is weakness. The part in us that is meant to be “full-filled.”

Leadership, then, is not merely the act of soliciting that “something” from those around us. It is more so the endeavor of eliciting that something special that lay within all of us.

The task at hand.

It is already there.

For the making.