The Truth About "Doing Your Best" (It's Probably Not What You Think!)

Stacey Paige
Oct 3
3 min read

This week, I was finishing up The Four Agreements, a book I’ve been revisiting this month. The fourth agreement is: “Always do your best.”

Even reading that, I felt a bit of a knot in my stomach and anxiety bubble up.

As a recovering type-A personality and lifelong perfectionist, “Always do your best” used to translate to:

Drain every ounce of energy you have to achieve a flawless, gold-star, perfectly polished end result.

Sound familiar?

Yeah. Not exactly sustainable.

But really, your “best” doesn’t mean wringing yourself dry every day. It simply means doing the best you can in that moment, within the real context of your life.

If you’re under the weather, your kid is sick, or life feels like it’s coming at you from all directions, your best is going to look very different than it does when you’re rested, healthy, and everything’s flowing.

And that’s not failure - that’s reality.

But here’s the thing: when you start accepting that your best changes from day to day, you also start to see that doing your best isn’t about pushing harder - it’s about being honest with yourself.

It becomes an invitation to look a little deeper at what’s filling your days.

To notice where your energy is going.

To ask: What am I saying yes to when my whole body is screaming no?

Because if you keep saying yes when your whole being is asking for a pause, you’re not actually doing your best - you’re doing what’s expected, or what’s convenient for others, or what helps you avoid conflict.

And let’s be honest - that drains your energy, builds resentment, and waters down the quality of everything else you do.

But when you say yes from a genuine place - because you want to, because it lights you up - you naturally show up with passion and presence.

That’s your real best.

Think of it like cleaning out a closet.

At first, you hang on to clothes you never wear - maybe someone gave them to you, maybe you just feel bad letting them go.

But the more you practice saying no to what doesn’t fit or doesn’t feel good, the more space you create.

Eventually, you open your closet and love what’s inside.

Life works the same way.

Of course, we still live in the real world. There will always be things we don’t exactly want to do but still have to - like paying bills or cleaning up the kitchen (seriously, how does it get messy again so fast??).

But here’s the thing: once you practice saying intentional no’s to the things you truly don’t want to do, you begin freeing space.

And when you start saying authentic yes’s - to what excites, nourishes, or supports you - you create momentum.

At first, it feels awkward.

You might feel guilty for saying no to an invitation or a request.

But little by little, those “I should” commitments that exist only to keep others comfortable begin to fall away.

And here’s the beautiful part: when you fill your days with authentic yes’s, even the have-to’s feel lighter. Paying bills or loading the dishwasher doesn’t feel as draining when your life is filled with meaningful choices that energize you.

So, “doing your best” isn’t about stretching yourself thin - it’s about aligning your actions with your truth.

Every authentic yes and every empowered no is a vote for the life you actually want to live.

And when you practice this consistently, your whole reality starts to rearrange itself around that truth.

✨ Want to practice aligning your yes’s and no’s?

Here are some affirmations to use: