The best you can do.

In an episode of the hit show Breaking Bad, the character Jesse, played by Aaron Paul relates a story that happened to him in his wood shop class in high school. In order to pass the class he had to make a small box, like the size of a jewelry box.

Being a lazy, stoner, burnout, Jesse decided to just throw the box together as quick as he can, get the passing grade and then just cut class and get high from that point on. So he makes this crappy little box and turns it in. The teacher takes a look at the box. He doesn't mention  how terrible it looks and he doesn't make any derogatory remarks about Jesse's lack of effort. There is no evidence that he is in any way judging the effort at all. He simply looks at Jesse and asks "is that the best you can do?"

Jesse knows that if he says yes, he is off the hook. He may not get an A in the class, but he will get a passing grade. But he also knows that he can do better. He knows that if he put in more time and actually cared about the quality of the work that it could be much much better. So he can't make himself tell the lie.

If the teacher had told Jesse how poor the box was Jesse would have gotten defensive and possibly argumentative. He would have then felt obligated to point out how he had never done something like this before and that it was a good first effort. He would have defended his work tooth and nail even though they both knew it was a shoddy effort. The teacher disarmed all that with that simple question.

Jesse went back and made another box and another, until finally he turned in something truly worthy of the effort involved. It was crafted of a very fine soft wood. He used wooden pegs to hold it together instead of screws. It was sanded and oiled until it gleamed. The final product was a thing of beauty.That never would have happened if the shop teacher had in any way criticized the first box.

The truth of the matter is it doesn't matter what other people think. We always want to believe that we are doing our best at whatever it is that we decide to do. If something happens that causes us to believe that we could have done a better job we feel obligated to do so.

Each person's best is different. And on some days your best will be better than others. No one but you ever truly knows what your best is. So nobody but you is ever worthy to judge whether or not you have done your best.

However, if you always do your best, you will never have any reason to regret anything you do. And no one else will ever have a just reason to be upset with your efforts.