I saw a t-shirt the other day that read: “Wrestling: It’s not about perfect. It’s about effort. And when you bring that effort every single day, that’s where transformation happens. That’s how change occurs.” I find so many life-lessons in the sport of wrestling. This t-shirt is yet another.
Life is not about being perfect. Like wrestling, though, it is about effort—and bringing that effort every single day. And, yes, if you bring the effort every single day, the transformation will happen—change will occur. The emphasis is on effort. This is what it means to be your best today; be better tomorrow.
We cannot expect perfection in ourselves or others. We can expect a best effort in ourselves and others—one-hundred percent one-hundred percent of the time. Nothing less.
Another favorite saying I have adopted from wrestling is: “Leave it all in this room.” In other words, bring your full effort to everything you do.
I think of the ‘parable of the talents’ in the Bible. We are all gifted in unique ways. Some are more talented than others. We all have unique roles—Purposes—in our work, community, family, team, etc. Whatever our role or talent, we must always give our best, or we are cheating ourselves and our “team” (and the opposition). I lecture my son often that if he does not give his full effort in practice, he diminishes his training partner’s opportunity to give his or her best and get better. He lets down himself, as well as his team.
“One-hundred percent one-hundred percent of the time” is not perfection. It is not always 100% of one’s best. It is the best we have to offer in the moment.
It is easy to want to give a little less effort some days, but less than our best effort does not lead to better. Sure there will be days physically or emotionally we are not our best. We may be sick, stressed, and/or dealing with countless issues that may be going on in our lives, but when we step into the “room”, we have to put forward the best effort we can muster.
Life is not about perfection. It is about effort, transformation, and change.
Carpe momento!