Your Best Today Will Set Up Your Best Tomorrow

I had three very interesting jobs during my college years. You’ll love this.

First, Busboy at the Sawgrass Marriott restaurant (Café on the Green was the name at the time). Second, Kirby vacuum cleaner salesperson. Third, Papa John’s pizza maker and delivery driver.

Each of these early jobs taught me some lifelong skills, some of which were even applicable to my future executive positions. The best learning happened when I brought my best to each role. I believe you can learn something from everyone, and something from every role. If you bring your best and have a curious mindset, you will reap rewards even if you are currently in a situation you’d like to move on from.

Let’s get quickly to the point. Hate what you do for a living? Bring your best anyway. Go all in and learn what you can, improve your skills, and develop relationships, and you will be better prepared to move on or possibly create more joy and mobility for yourself within the organization based on your improved efforts.

Who do you think about when you think about someone who brings their absolute best with consistency? With work, with family, with faith, with relationships, with play?

Is it you? Or are there some areas where you phone it in?

What about energy? What about burnout? Admittedly, there are some things that need to be worked out here. I’ve worked leadership jobs where I was all out straight for long periods and burnout was absolutely on the horizon. What are some things we can do so that we can bring our best in all areas of life? And, have this level of engagement be sustainable.

Recently I sat in on an amazing performance presentation and discussion with the marketing powerhouse Connect Agency in Jacksonville, Florida. They’ve got it dialed in and I will paraphrase some of their comments that fit nicely with this concept.

Progress over perfection: Bringing your best doesn’t mean being perfect. Far from it. In fact, the quest for perfection often robs us of effectiveness.

Seasons of life and the truth about balance: Balance is defined as conditions in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions. True balance across all areas of life is not always possible, although it may be achieved over a length of time as areas are prioritized in different seasons.

Being flexible and having alternate plans: This one is tricky. Life happens. We all know that. When something throws you off course, give yourself some grace and modify the plan if necessary. Caution! This can be taken too far. If you are dealing with a self-limiting belief or constantly making excuses for why something isn’t getting done, then see the next item.

Have some non-negotiables: Be honest. Do the difficult first. Improve effectiveness wherever possible. Pray every day and give thanks. Don’t shy away from challenges. These are some examples, develop your own.

Staying centered and having a solid foundation: We’ve done a lot of work together here. This goes back to Modules 1-7 for you in the One To Grow On Community. You have already taken serious steps to develop this! If you haven’t yet, now is a great time to join the community and get intentional on this.

Focus on preparation and starting the day right: For those who know me, you aren’t surprised I lit up when they started talking about morning routines and preparing to start the day off right! (visit our blog for more information on the morning kickstart)

Remember the oxygen on airplane mantra: Rest and relaxation. Strategic disengagement. My newest individual coaching client has the word “Renewal” for the year. I love that! Taking proper care of yourself allows you the energy, time, and mindset to bring your best.

The real benefits of bringing your best are gratitude, harmony, peace, joy, and success for many of us. Studies show that success is not the predictor of the others. It’s the other way around. (See Shawn Achor’s Ted Talk The Happiness Advantage)

>>>>  When you bring your best, your integrity grows, and your great character shows.<<<<

And, if you are wondering about what being a busboy taught me, it was three things that apply in many aspects of life:.

  • Develop strong bonds with the people you work with, I made it a point to know everyone including managers, chefs, security guards, dishwashers, and of course the servers. I even made a lifelong friend from that place.
  • Make the job fun. Get creative here. We got the job done well and managed to bring a high level of joy and entertainment along the way. Once we created mini parachutes out of the cloth napkins and dropped them from the 4th floor trying to land them on the hostess. Take it easy, it was a slow night!
  • Hard work pays off. We got tipped out by the wait staff, and as we got better and faster at taking care of their tables, our reward went up dramatically (from a little to a bit more than a little) for the same number of hours.


The lesson from Kirby was an interesting sales approach and how to deal with a door being shut in your face. And Papa John’s, well let’s just say I’ve been known to sling a pizza around my kitchen and turn out some professional-grade results, at least from my family’s perspective!


Learn about personalized one-on-one coaching

Sign up for the Real Estate Trust Builder Program

Calling all graduates!

For a limited time, join our One To Grow On Community at a discounted rate. Get the personalized tools to master life transitions, build good habits, and kickstart your career today!

Use promo code CLASS2024 at checkout for 50% off your first three months!