Picture
yourself in a football locker room. You come in from a practice before the
beginning of the season and you pick up a copy of the schedule. You immediately
look to see when you’ll play your biggest rival. They’re ranked really high
this season so your big rivalry game will be even bigger this year. Your
teammate in the locker next to yours leans over and says, “you better bring
your “A” game when we play those guys from across town.”
Ever heard
that phrase before? “A” game? What does it really mean? Usually when someone
tells you to bring your “A” game, they’re telling you to make sure you give
your best effort. They’re saying, “you gotta give it your all on this one.” But
why, in anything we do, would we ever bring our “B” game? Why would we go into
a situation giving less than our best attempt?
The phrase,
“anything worth doing is worth doing well” applies to all aspects of our lives.
Whether you’re an athlete, janitor, small business owner or have any other form
of employment, if you’re going to do it you should do it as well as you can!
Only bringing your “A” game on certain situations would seem to indicate that
it’s ok on some occasions to give less than your best. Some days will
definitely be better than others, but to go into a situation and knowingly give
less than what you’re capable of is not only disrespectful to those who work
with you, but it’s also disrespectful to yourself.
Even in
situations that don’t have anything to do with work, giving less than your best
is never a good idea. Would you, as a parent, only do your best to raise your
child on certain occasions? If a friend needed someone to talk to, would you only
try to be the best listener you could be at certain times? Give your best at
ALL times. It’s the only thing anyone can really ever ask of you.
“Once a job is first begun,
Never leave
it ‘till it’s done.
Be the labor
great or small,
Do it well,
or not at all.”
-Unknown