Do your best. We hear this statement often. And what does it mean? Feeling you did your best should enable you to go to sleep at night feeling fulfilled and satisfied with the activities you engaged in that day. Wanting to do your best encourages you to put forth the effort needed to meet your goals.

How do you define your best? While the phrase can be motivational, depending on your definition, it may do more harm than good. Being on your A game day in and day out, in all areas of your life is not necessarily sustainable. Putting your all in one area will likely mean other areas of your life will suffer. Does that mean you’re not doing your best? The answer depends on your individual goals and gets harder to navigate the more you look outside yourself for the meaning.

Here are some examples to highlight how the meaning of your best can change at different times in your life.

When starting a new business your goal will be to advance in that business and that will require other aspects of your life to be put on the backburner. And that’s okay, your goal is your business so your focus and energy should be going into your business.

When you bring a new baby home, your focus is on that baby and other aspects of life that used to mean a lot to you may fall by the wayside. And that’s okay, you’re in a transitional period and your focus is on your baby.  

They’ll be other points in your life where your priority will be to live a balanced life. To not put your all into any one thing, but to enjoy all the different facets of the life you’ve built and continue to build. You won’t be the person staying the latest at the office, your workouts may not be the hardest or longest they’ve ever been. And that’s okay. Your best, as defined by you, is balance.

It’s easy when you feel you’re not excelling in an aspect of your life to believe that you’re somehow not doing your best. When this happens, bring your focus back to what your goals are for this particular period of your life. Ask yourself what you want to define as your best. Spend time contemplating the consequences of this definition. Think about what results you are looking for, and where you personally receive the greatest reward from expending your energy. What trajectory are you setting for your future self? The emphasis is on you because you are the only person who knows what is best for you on a particular day or during a particular time in your life.

Friends, neighbors, colleagues, and family members may not see what you’re doing as your best. This can be discouraging; it may make you question your actions. Consider loved one’s opinions and see if they have merit, but at the end of the day remember you’re the only person who really knows what is the best for you right now at this stage of your life. Bring the focus back to what your individual goals are. Others’ versions of your best, while well meaning, are likely from the perspective of what you were able to give to them. That definition of your best won’t accomplish your unique goals and won’t leave you feeling fulfilled or satisfied.

While navigating your definition of your best, keep in mind that this definition will change. Yesterday your best may have been running three miles, today it may be walking one. Just because you did more the day before doesn’t mean what you did today wasn’t your best.

What are your goals for this phase of your life? What is your best today? What’s something you can feel good about? Think about it, be intentional about it. And remember your best will be different day to day and that is okay.