(You are) Do(ing) Your Best!

November 07, 2024

This blog post is going to be a little different. That’s because I’m going to challenge you, dear reader, to do something with me. Included below is less of a blog post and more of an activity regarding motivation. You can participate as much or as little as you want (after all, it’d be rather hard for me to track down all of you and check your work-ha!). The activity will start with an explanation of how to follow along and materials needed. Good luck!

A Motivation Activity Blog Post

Instructions:

There are two categories of quotes in the activity below. All of the quotes are about being or doing your best. Step 1 is to choose which category of quotes to read first (the category titles are meaningless). I’d recommend you not read any of the quotes before choosing. After you read your chosen category of quotes, write a reflection on how reading the quotes made you feel. There will be questions at the end of the category that you can choose to answer, or you can just write about how you feel and your current level of motivation to do/be your best. After you are done writing your first reflection, repeat the same steps with the second category.

At this point in the instructions, you will have read both categories and have two reflections. The last step is to write one final reflection comparing and contrasting the two categories and how they made you feel. Questions and instructions for that reflection will be in the activity below as well. After that, you will be done and free to read my reflections that are located at the end of the blog. I will also be revealing my thoughts and reasons behind this blog post, so I will give a spoiler warning before I start that. Any questions? No? Good. Have at it!

Materials Needed:

Something to write with
Something to write on

Categories and Reflection Questions

Category Purple

“I can’t believe how hard you’re on yourself. Don’t overlook all that you are and do to fixate on the opposite. You’re being and doing your best, which still unfolds good, and that’s all that matters.” -@jasminekaurtoday
“You’re trying your best, that’s enough.” -Unknown
“‘I don’t know the way,’ sighed Tiny Dragon. ‘Despite what they might say,’ said Big Panda, ‘no one knows the way. We’re all just doing our best.’” -@jamesnorburyofficial
“One day she realized her kids and her spouse (and everyone, really) were doing the very best they knew how to do. And so was she. So she decided to give everyone a break… including herself. She loosened her grip. She stopped striving. And she decided to just believe in them. And in herself. And she noticed everyone seemed a lot more peaceful and happy this way.” -@mikalaalbertsonmd
“Just keep doing the best you can.” -@dailyhighli8s
“Just doing my best every single day.” -@lottashouse
“Your best is absolutely enough.” -@sarahdanielledesigns
“I’m doing ~~my best~~.” “Doing is enough.” -@lousydrawingsforgoodpeople

Reflection Questions:

How do you feel right after reading all those quotes (use emotion words)? Did any stand out to you? If so, which ones? Were there some that brought up pleasant feelings and some that brought up unpleasant feelings, or was it all pleasant or unpleasant? Why do you think that is? How motivated to “do/be your best” do you feel after reading those quotes on a scale of 1-10 (1 being no motivation and 10 being the most motivation)? Why do you think you rated the way you did?

read the next category if this is your first category to read, otherwise go to the end of the categories for the compare/contrast reflection questions under Conclusion

Category Green

“So do your best, every single day. Push yourself, and make your moves. Know that it will work out for you.” –@writer.kh
“Always do your best, no matter the size of your audience.” -@connectwithspirit
“Do the best you can in the here and now.” -@peggiesuebuckles
“Do your best and let go of the rest.” [email protected]
“Today is just another day unless you decide to make it extraordinary. So set your goals, do your best to make today awesome and to make yourself proud.” -@michimoon1
“The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.” -@go_alphabetsoup
“Do your best, but remember that your worth is not defined by the result.” -@pamelajaglimmerofangellight
“Don’t wait your entire life to find a perfect life, perfect home, perfect partner, perfect job; it does not exist… everything that you expect to be perfect comes with its own flaws… the idea is to find goodness in everything that you come across… and be the best that you can be.” -Sangeeta Rana

Reflection Questions:

How do you feel right after reading all those quotes (use emotion words)? Did any standout to you? If so, which ones? Were there some that brought up pleasant feelings and some that brought up unpleasant feelings, or was it all pleasant or unpleasant? Why do you think that is? How motivated to “do/be your best” do you feel after reading those quotes on a scale of 1-10 (1 being no motivation and 10 being the most motivation)? Why do you think you rated the way you did?

read the next category if this is your first category to read, otherwise go to the next set of reflection questions below.

Conclusion

Compare/Contrast Questions: Looking at the two reflections that you have written thus far, which one contains more pleasant emotions, and which one contains more unpleasant emotions? Why do you think that is? In which reflection do you have a higher rating of motivation? Is that in any way related to/correlated with the number of pleasant emotions you experienced after reading the category? Why do you think that is? Looking at the two categories now, which ones would you rather hear knowing what you now know about your feelings/motivational rating? Do you have any ideas/thoughts on the differences between the two categories and why they were categorized the way they were? Lastly, what was it like to do this activity and would you ever want to do more like it in the future?

*SPOILER WARNING*

PLEASE DO NOT READ PAST THIS LINE UNLESS YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE ACTIVITY OR HAVE NO INTEREST IN COMPLETING IT

Below are my reflections as I went through and completed the activity. Take some time to read them if you’d like, otherwise, feel free to skip on down to the explanation of the activity.

Reflection #1: After reading Category Green, I feel apathetic. I don’t think the quotes changed my feelings that I was having before reading them much. I do feel a little inspired, but not much. The one about today just being another day unless you make it extraordinary stood out to me because it is true that if you choose for a day to be interesting and different, it can be. I liked the emphasis on choice and how you can choose to change if you want. I think some of them brought up unpleasant feelings and a couple brought up pleasant feelings. I think that’s because some of them talk about things that personally create insecurity in me and others were ones that inspired me. Right now I would set the motivation rating at like maybe a 6. I think I feel a small bit more motivated than average, but not by much.

Reflection #2: As I was reading Category Purple, I noticed that I began to smile, and a small wave of relief washed over me. I feel lighter and comforted. I feel like I can breathe. The one with the dragon and panda stood out to me because it really made me feel lighter and calmer. I liked the first quote as well and how it started out with “I can’t believe how hard you are on yourself.” That really felt good to hear. Overall, they mainly brought up pleasant emotions for me and not really any unpleasant feelings. I think that’s because they all just felt like there was no pressure from any of them and that whatever I was able to do today, was okay. On a scale of 1-10 of how motivated I am right now, I feel like an 8. I think that’s because when the pressure is gone and I feel mainly pleasant emotions, I have space to even consider doing my best and I don’t feel scared that someone is going to get mad at me if ‘my best’ isn’t enough for them. In fact, I feel like I can finish the rest of this blog today now. If that’s not motivation, I don’t know what is.

Conclusion Reflection: The reflection on Category Purple contains a lot more pleasant emotion. I think that’s because those quotes contained less ‘pressuring’ statements and less ‘demands.’ I don’t always respond well to demands. I have a higher rating of motivation in the purple category as well. I think motivation and the number of pleasant emotions is directly correlated in that when I feel better, I tend to have more motivation to get things done. I would definitely rather hear quotes like the ones in Category Purple than quotes from Category Green. Unfortunately, because I created the activity and I already know the difference between them, I cannot answer the second to last reflection question. However, I did enjoy this activity, and I felt like it confirmed what sort of statements motivate me to do my best.

Explanation and Final Conclusion of the Motivation Activity

When I started this blog, it was originally a normal blog post exploring the definitions of what it means to ‘do your best.’ I discussed things like Simone Biles and how she decided not to continue on in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after getting the ‘twisties.’ I mentioned how ‘doing your best’ becomes way more complicated the more you look into it. After all, that is what happened. The more I tried to write about ‘doing your best,’ the more complicated and difficult to pin down it seemed to be. Finally, I got the idea of looking for quotes or cultural references for ideas. As I began to write down quotes (mainly from Instagram), I started to notice a pattern. There were at least two different categories of quotes around doing your best that appeared. One was quotes that assume you are already doing your best and the other is quotes that are telling you to do your best. As I recognized these two categories, I started to wonder, which one is more motivating and helpful to hear?

Based on my knowledge of therapy and motivation, I believed that the category that assumes you are doing your best would be more motivating. However, I wondered if it would truly be convincing or helpful to just tell people my theories about these quotes. I chose to do an activity so that you could find out for yourself which one is most helpful/motivating. I do not know if my hypothesis is correct, and you may have found that for you it is the opposite. I think it is more important for each individual to know what is most motivating for them, rather than for me to tell you what people tend to generally feel or think. I hope this activity was enjoyable, made you think a little bit differently, and gave you some good info to tell your friends and family about how to motivate you differently from now on.

Also, in case anyone is curious, there was one last category that I found among all the quotes. I did not want to include it in my activity, because I thought that would get too complicated. But if you would like to read it, here is the final category:

Category Gray (Advice for Doing Your Best)

“You do your best when you feel your best; take care of your mind, body and soul.” -@abbeysbakerycharity
“Your best is what you can do without harming your mental and physical health, not what you can do when you disregard it” -@compassionatereminders
“The only thing I can control is my performance. If I do my best, then I can feel good at the end of the day.” -Michael Phelps
“This is what doing your best can look like: not completing all your daily tasks; resting in bed for the entire day; relaxing and doing a hobby you enjoy; checking off all the tasks on your to-do list; getting all your errands done; working a full shift at work.” -@mentallyabadass
“Doing your best is better than being the best.” -@morg_madethis