It sometimes feels like I have two modes: either being so focused on a task and trying to do it both to the best of my ability but also in the fastest way possible (generally the latter wins because you can’t do something the best if it’s the fastest, you know?), or I take my time and don’t give it all the attention I perhaps should.
What I’ve been learning is balancing both giving something your best, or your all, without exhausting yourself and giving too much of yourself into a task.
And so, here is my list of how to give something your all without giving too much and ending up exhausted.
1/ Don’t be afraid to give something your all.
For me, at least, sometimes it can be scary giving something your all because then if it fails, you would have invested so much and it seems like you didn’t get anything out of what you invested. But don’t let that hold you back! Don’t drown in opportunities you refuse to take.
2/ It’s okay to ask for help.
Ask as many questions as you need. It’ll help you more in the long run if you get all the information you need to do something. For instance, learning guitar. I need help because I get to a certain point and I can’t move forward on my own. So I ask for help and I get help then I spend the following weeks practising that one thing. And then I get stuck on the next thing, so I need to ask for help all over again.
3/ Feel free to make mistakes.
In my job as a receptionist I once had to ring a lady three times in a row. I would hang up then realise I hadn’t asked the right questions. Then it happened again. And again. She was lovely about it, thank goodness (though by the last call I could tell she was getting frustrated but trying to hide it with her “Oh Sarah, hi again”). But that’s part of the experience. Because now I know what questions to ask. And it’s with anything; you learn something so it’s going to awkward and you’re going to make mistakes and making mistakes isn’t fun most of the time, but it’s part of it. We might as well embrace it.
4/ Don’t look at other people.
“Are they giving their all? Should I slack off? Argh!” Just don’t worry about them. It doesn’t matter if they’re doing their job to the best of their ability. This is about you and it’ll benefit you. Don’t compare.
You can’t give something your all if you’re too afraid to try it in the first place. I’m in the midst of learning this and I still haven’t gotten as far with it as I would like, because in my head I’m all like yeah, let’s give it my all! I can do this! It doesn’t matter if I make a mistake. Just go for it! But in reality I’m there like someone else can do it. I’ll do it next time. I don’t need to give this job my all, right? See? I’m learning. And I’m trying. Well, at the moment it’s more I’m trying to try, because I haven’t even reached the ‘trying’ stage. But we’ll see how we go.
I hope this helped, campers,
Sarah xx
the softest words 