Give your best to what matters most

There’s a funny thing about effort: when the stakes are high, so is the effort.
Think about it. There are plenty of things we do halfway—not because we’re lazy or incapable, but because they just don’t matter that much. And no criticism here, by the way. This author is guilty too.

Doing everything perfectly takes an extreme amount of energy. Who has that kind of time?

But here’s what I’ve realized: perfect—or at least pretty darn close to it—is almost always possible when it really matters.

Maybe you have a two-foot fence in your backyard. You’ve climbed over it before, cautiously, awkwardly, possibly getting your hem caught on the way over. But put a swarm of bees behind you—or an angry dog—and I guarantee you’re clearing that thing like an Olympic hurdler.

Same fence. Same legs. Very different effort.

Or maybe there’s a tedious project at work. Your boss needs a spreadsheet. There are a million numbers. You’ve looked at it twice. Do you really need to look at it a third time? Eh. Probably good enough.

Now imagine that same spreadsheet is going to the bank to secure financing for the biggest purchase order your business has ever received.

Suddenly you and Excel are spending some quality time together. Every number gets checked, rechecked and checked again. That spreadsheet is getting an A+.

So clearly, we can do things exceptionally well. We just pick and choose when we do.

And maybe that’s not a bad thing.

There are only so many hours in a day and only so much energy in the tank. I know incredibly successful, organized people whose laundry rooms look like a small explosion occurred. Their businesses run beautifully. Their calendars are organized. Their bills are paid. Meanwhile, somewhere in the basement is a box they haven’t opened since 2017.

Maybe that box just doesn’t matter.

I started thinking about whether the lesson here is that we should put more effort into everything. I don’t think it is. Frankly, that sounds exhausting.

Maybe the discovery is simply recognizing that we are capable of a whole lot more than we sometimes think we are. When something matters enough, we somehow find another gear.

So maybe the question isn’t, “Why don’t I do everything perfectly?”

Maybe it’s, “Is this worth my best effort?”

If the answer is yes, you already know you can clear the fence.

And if the answer is no?

The laundry can wait.

Wendy Kushel is the owner of Wendala’s LowCountry Sugar Scrub, LLC based in Bluffton. Drawn to the beauty and personal care industry, Wendy founded her company in 2020. Her background includes stand-up comedy, film, TV and a lot of sales and marketing. For more information about Wendala’s® LowCountry Sugar Scrub visit www.lowcountrysugarscrub.com or call/text 843-949-8933.