“Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.”

So... I am in the middle of getting a line of credit from the bank for a side venture that I am working on. In doing so, I have come to the realization and the understanding, of the importance of taking your time, beginning with the end in mind, and only submitting the “best you can do”.

The numerous drafts of my financial forecasts I had to RE-SUBMIT reminded me of Winston Lloyds experience with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger...

“WL: Well, basically it was, I went in with a draft, and it was actually of a presidential foreign policy report. This is slightly apocryphal and not directly on your subject here, but I would go in with a draft of the speech. He called me in the next day and said, “Is this the best you can do?” I said, “Henry, I thought so, but I’ll try again.” So I go back in a few days, another draft. He called me in the next day and he said, “Are you sure this is the best you can do?” I said, “Well, I really thought so. I’ll try one more time.” Anyway, this went on eight times, eight drafts; each time he said, “Is this the best you can do?” So I went in there with a ninth draft, and when he called me in the next day and asked me that same question, I really got exasperated and I said, “Henry, I’ve beaten my brains out – this is the ninth draft. I know it’s the best I can do: I can’t possibly improve one more word.” He then looked at me and said, “In that case, now I’ll read it.”

In everything we do, there must be the understanding of how our actions (or work) will be used and "the end result". Will our actions get us our desired results? Is this the best possible work I can do? What if you started every task you faced with the end in mind...AND... with an understanding that nothing would be accepted EXCEPT for perfection? Would anything in your life change?

This experience has taught me the importance of planning, the importance of time management, the importance of big picture thinking, AND...the importance of ONLY DOING YOUR BEST. Nothing else will suffice if your desired end-result is victory.