You can always do better.

Hey folks ??, thanks for joining us for this week's edition of Double-click. In this newsletter, I expand on something that I’ve been thinking about this week or been dealing with as the CEO of 11:FS. I want to give you folks the real view on building a career, a business, or just being a human, so I hope you find the content super-duper practical and that it helps you be more successful.?

We were blown away by the response to edition 2 last week with another 600 people signing up this week with some great comments. My fav being this from Amit Sanghvi:?

“Quite conceivably the most valuable advice anyone looking to take charge of their career could receive. Most valuable both because this is tremendously insightful but also because of how simple and practical the advice is.”

Man, that sets a high bar! Thank you all. Tell your friends! ???

Right, here’s what’s top of mind for me this week and something I say a lot: You can always do better.

You can always do better.

?? This is something I always think of when I talk to clients, our incredible team at 11:FS and the wider community about what they want to achieve.

“I feel like if I had more <insert constraint>, I would have done a better job on XYZ”.

Or?

“If I had the chance to do that again, I would do it differently like XYZ.”

The second one is literally what learning is, so never feel sad about that, but the first is often coupled with a sense of grief and disappointment. While this is no doubt true, it masks something deeper for me. Core to this belief is that the product of your work defines you, and this is something that I completely disagree with.

Your work product is just the outcome of the activity and constraints that are placed upon you. Nothing more. It is the best you could do with the constraints that are placed upon you. With more time, money or whatever, you would achieve different things. So don't let your output be your only measure of success.?

What is key to that sentence is that it was “the best” that you could achieve. With all of the constraints, if you know inside your own mind it was the best you could do, then you will have no regrets.

Focus on momentum.

Instead of a work product, you need to focus on how best to move something forwards so that it gets things in motion to solve the immediate problem. We talk a lot about MLP at 11:FS when we approach work for our clients. What’s the minimum lovable version of the thing that you can deliver within the timeframe? Do that. There will always be opportunities to go back and make it better later when constraints are different.??

As we established in edition 1 we all have limited time and resources, and prioritisation is key.?

Your commitment.

What I expect from my team and those at 11:FS is the comfort in knowing that the result was the best possible outcome it could be with time, money and whatever other constraints there were. That is not a result, it's a feeling. A feeling that someone did their best.?

Never let someone question your commitment or intent.

This is the best thing you can ever deliver and one that separates you from the outcome whether positive or negative, for both you and those surrounding you.

Final thoughts.

Life, and the successes that you have within it, is about the constraints you have placed upon you achieving your goals, not just the achievements themselves.

Delivering a successful result does not mean you as a person are a success and conversely, to some great comfort, failing does not make you a failure either. We are human beings and when all is said and done we are not defined by what we did but the way in which we did it.

Knowing this is a warm comfort. You can always do better. It is both a comfort to your learning, failures and a warning to your present successes.?

You can always do better. And you will.

See you next week.

D?