Only one standard... · Effortless Hustle

Only one standard...

I was probably ten years old.

My dad had asked me to wash the family car before I could go play with my friends.

I went out, gave it a scrub, figured it was good enough, and came back inside to let him know I was finished.

He walked out with me to take a look…

He didn't point out a single thing I'd missed. He didn't go over it with a checklist. He just looked at it for a moment, then looked at me and asked:

"Are you proud of it?"

And I knew immediately.

Not really.

I'd done enough to be done. I hadn't done enough to be proud.

There was a difference, and I felt it the second he asked.

He didn't tell me what was wrong with it. He just sent me back out with one instruction: Come back when you can honestly say yes.

So I went back out and kept working.

When I finally came back inside and told him I was proud of it, he didn't go inspect it. He didn't run a checklist. He just said, "Then you're done," and he let me go.

That was it.

No external validation. No approval process. Just one question and one standard.

I've been asking myself that same question ever since.

Every book I've written. Every presentation I've put on stage. Every product I've launched. Every goal I've set for myself. Before I call something finished, I ask: Am I proud of this?

If the answer is yes, I'm done. If it's no, I'm not.

It sounds almost too simple.

But I've found that most people don't actually have a personal standard like this.

They have deadlines. They have external feedback loops. They have managers or metrics or peer pressure telling them when something is good enough.

What they don't have is that internal voice asking the one question that actually matters.

Here's what I want to ask you today: When you look at the work you're putting out right now, the goals you're chasing, the daily habits you're keeping or not keeping, can you honestly say you're proud of it?

Not proud in a boastful way. Proud in a quiet, settled, "I gave that everything I had" way.

If the answer is yes, keep going. If it's not, you already know what to do.

No matter the goal. No matter how small.

Be proud of who you are and what you do.

You deserve it.

Cheers 🍻 to success!

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