📝 Shane Parrish writes about his son explaining away a low grade…
he shrugged his shoulders and said, “I did my best,” and walked away.
Shane sat down with him later that night to discuss the issue further…
Doing your best is as much about the position you put yourself in as the result you get.
I asked him what it meant to put himself in a good position for success on a test. He listed factors like sleeping well, eating a healthy breakfast, avoiding arguments with his brother, and studying effectively.
Too often, when people say they did their best, they mean they did their best at the moment with little regard for all the things within their control that came before. My son gave his best on the hour of the test, but by not preparing, he inadvertently chose to play on hard mode.
Whatever game you’re playing, are you choosing to play it on hard mode?
Are you putting in the prep work to give yourself the best chance of success?
Or are you setting yourself up for failure before the game has even started? 😕
Last words from Shane…
Over the long term, the average person who constantly puts themselves in a good position beats the genius who finds themselves in a poor position.
What looks like talent is often nothing more than good preparation.
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