Being My Best
I am at my best when ….
This writing prompt provided by our workshop host, KindLoook founder Daniel Burns, has me thinking.
For many of us, there is a tendency to focus our answer on all of the factors within our control. After all, the prevailing view is that being at our best (or not) is all about our skills and talents, our personal attributes and attitudes, our motivation, and our application and effort.
What about the conditions within which we operate? What happens when we fail to recognise situational factors?
In psychology, this is known as fundamental attribution error, and we can all find ourselves down this path.
We think things like, “I’ll be better (or my best) when …
I start focusing and try harder …
I learn how to do X, Y, or Z …
I find something that motivates me …”
And so on, and so forth.
Context matters, though. A lot.
We all operate within increasingly complex systems in our work and lives. These systemic factors also play a large - and often uncontrollable - role in us being at our best.
At the very least we need to recognise them. And, where they don’t work for us (or worse, are harmful), we need to do our best to change or remove them.
Deep down, we each know all of the elements that contribute to us being at our best.
So, next time we’re considering how to answer the prompt, “I am at my best when” I’m curious what the answer might be.