The definition of your best effort can fluctuate on a daily basis.
Some days you will accomplish everything (or almost everything) you set out to do.
On other days, you might find yourself struggling for any number of reasons.
In both cases you are doing what you can — in other words, you’re doing ‘your best’ for that day.
On days that feel easy, we don’t need many reminders.
On days that feel particularly difficult, there are several reminders that are important to fall back on, including:
Remembering to be kind to yourself.
Remembering that you’re human.
Remembering that you are already whole — that your existence isn’t justified by your work.
And lastly: remembering that it is going to be ok.
On the day I wrote this, it seemed that everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
I didn't meet the deadline I imposed on myself, I clumsily opened my car door into wall in a garage, a couple of retaliatory drivers tried to kill me.
At first I thought the world was conspiring to screw me over, but I later understood (as I was writing this) that life throws punches at us all the time. Some days are just exceptionally worse compared to others.