Depending on your age or interests, the words “the best” may make you think of Ash Ketchum and Pikachu as they face a battle while the Pokémon theme plays, or you may have images of Ralph Macchio balancing on a post in The Karate Kid, with Joe Esposito’s “You’re the Best” running in your mind. Either way, the desire to be “the best” is something we’re all too familiar with. However, it’s often a heartbreaking day when we seem to discover that not everyone can be the best, but I believe we can.
We find our desire of “the best” to often be in comparison to others, whether it be in having “the best” (clothes, cars, grades, etc.) or being “the best” (basketball player, fisherman, sales rep, etc.); we want to be acknowledged, recognized, and respected for that achievement. Sometimes, it even feels that only then can we be satisfied and valued.
“Comparison is the thief of joy.”
~Theodore Roosevelt
The problem, however, is that to be or to have the best in anything of the entire population is almost entirely impossible and, contrary to the message of many inspiring YouTube videos, is not achievable simply through hard work. One of my favorite examples of this is Michael Phelps, the American Olympic swimmer.
Phelps is regarded as the best swimmer of all time – not only the best alive, but to ever exist. He is the single most decorated Olympian, with 28 medals (23 gold, 3 silver, and 2 bronze), and broke 29 individual world records over his swimming career. If someone wants a picture of “the best,” there’s no better place to look than at Phelps.
While Phelps is a phenomenal athlete and worked extremely hard for his accomplishments, there is an uncontrollable element involved in his success: nature. In addition to Phelps’ mindset and work ethic, he has a plethora of physical, genetic advantages that make him the “perfect swimmer” as many have put it – so much so that some even speculate that Phelps is a lab grown experiment. (Check out this article for a detailed list on his advantages).
Again, while mindset and work ethic are important, it’s nearly, if not completely, impossible to outwork the advantages of nature when it is working just as hard, if not harder. If I had hopes of being the best swimmer and stumbled upon Phelps’ resume, I’d be destroyed – I’d never be satisfied trying to compete with his image. In any area, trying to chase an ideal image only leads to disappointment and self-doubt when we realize it’s unachievable – there are too many elements out of our control. However, that’s not enough reason for us to give up hope just yet.
If our goal of being “the best” is recognition or respect, as it often is, we can change our thinking just slightly and actually obtain what we strive for. By looking for recognition and respect internally, from within us, and not externally, from those around us, we can drive toward self-fulfillment by consistently chasing the best version of ourselves we can possibly achieve, and therefore being “the best.”
While the best version of Luke Jeffrey may not even be the 15th best version of Michael Phelps, I still am “the best” in my own regard; nobody is a better Luke Jeffrey than I am. There’s no reason for me to pursue Phelps’ path when I have my own set out before me: a path that I am not only the best option for, but am the only one who can complete it. Furthermore, I have the ability to create an even better version of myself with each day, all while trying to be the best Luke Jeffrey that one could imagine, because that’s what I can control.
In reality, the only way to even begin to be “the best” among others (if that’s still your goal), is first to strive to be “the best” among ourselves. By working to be the best we can, we leave out uncontrollable elements that would only hinder our progress and prevent us from ever reaching our full potential and being fulfilled. Focusing on what is in our control is the only true way to obtain recognition and respect we desire, but it will have to come from ourselves long before it comes from anyone else.
“But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting, but to himself alone, and not to another. For each one will bear his own load.”
~Galatians 6:4-6, NASB
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