Is this the best you can do?

Winston Lord was Henry Kissingers speechwriter.His first assignment was to write a speech on the current state of relations between the U.S and China.
Within a week Winston had his first draft of the speech ready , he sent it to Kissinger ,who called Winston into his office for a meeting the next day.

Holding the draft of the speech in his hand,Kissinger asked Winston only one question"Is this the best you can do "?

Winston replied "I thought so , but I will give it another try"

Winston did some editing ,added some material and sent it back to Kissinger

Kissinger once again called Winston back to his office and once again asked "is this the best you can do"?

Frustrated Winston said "I guess not , I will give it another try"

This went on 9 times .On the 9th time Winston walked into Kissingers office and once again he was asked "Is this the best you can do?"

Winston ,threw his hands up in disgust."I have put my heart and soul into this , I have studied every single word ,looking for ways to improve it but I can't.So to answer your question, Yes it is the best I can do ,if it's not good enough for you get yourself a new speechwriter '"

Kissinger picked up the speech and said to Winston, "In that case this time I will read it "

Kissinger was a tough man to like ,but he did demand excellence .He wanted the best effort out of his people ,he wouldn,t tolerate anything less.We should expect the same out of ourselves , casualness leads to casualties.How we do anything is, how we do everything .We all owe it  to ourselves to do the best we can, on everything we do and not just some of the time ,but all of the time .Your work does reflect on you ,why not radiate out the best?.It will pay out.