Classroom-2-Boardroom: On Being Better vs Best.

4-min read: Being the best is an accolade, being better is a commitment.

Hi friends 👋🏾

Welcome to Issue 13 of Classroom-2-Boardroom. This is a 4-minute read, no more no less. 🙅🏾‍♀️

On Good, Better, and Better (Not Best)

So this past Saturday, I woke up, opened a book I’m currently reading, and in a flash, I went down the rabbit hole- what’s better: to be the best at something or to be continuously better at something?

Now you’re thinking: Dulra, we get it. Skip your morning routine and get to it. 👀

Me: It’s not my morning routine, lol. 🧐

It’s the fact that the moment we open our eyes in the morning, we’re signaling an end to yesterday, and a new beginning to today. ✨

In those short and infinitesimal moments, life presents us with a question- to dwell in the goodness of yesterday 🤔 or open up to the opportunities for improvements today; to see yesterday as the best (or worst) 😇 or see today as a chance to be even better than yesterday (the supposed best); to dwell on past glories of being the best 🤔 or to submit to new ways of being better. 🤌🏾

Most times, we wake up and jump right into the activities of the day 🕺🏾.

No judgment- being there, done that.

But here’s a challenge 🤌🏾: next time the alarm goes off, I encourage you to be conscious of these short and infinitesimal moments; don’t miss them😁. Stay in these moments for they carry momentum for ya🫡

Now, let's talk about being better versus being the best. The classroom might give you gold stars for being the best in Math or English, but my friend, life rewards those who are better at living it. 🎯

Enter Kaizen—the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement. 💯

It's based on the idea that we can always get better, no matter how good we are. Kaizen is all about making small, incremental changes over time. 🚀

👉🏾 Small things add up. Big things used to be small. Old things used to be new and new things will soon be old. More used to be less. W/o less, we can’t have more. Best was once better. 🎯👌🏾

Toyota is one of the most successful car companies in the world. They use Kaizen to continuously improve their products and processes. ✨

For example, Toyota employees are encouraged to make suggestions for improvement, no matter how small👌🏾. This has helped the company become one of the most efficient and innovative car companies in the world. 💯

How about we start each day with “What can I do better today?” 🫡🕺🏾

Perfection Paralysis

Now, let's address the elephant in the room—perfection. 💁🏾‍♀️

It's like searching for a unicorn; it sounds cool, but have you ever seen one? 🫨

Perfection paralysis is real.

Waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect idea, the perfect opportunity, the perfect partner —it's like waiting for a cat to bark. 👀

Embrace the messy, the imperfect, the "Oh, that wasn’t supposed to happen" moments. 🤌🏾

They often lead to the most extraordinary discoveries. 🚀

Don’t be your best self. be your best self yet.💯

Whatever you think you’re the best in, some people are better at it. Don’t take my word for it- time will tell. 🙅🏾‍♀️

But Dulra, everybody says you have to be your best self. 🧐

In the end, you have one job. ONE JOB! 👌🏾

You define what defines you. You write what rewrites you. ✨

Will people try to do your job for you? Absolutely, my friends. 💁🏾‍♀️

In fact, they’ll go above and beyond to define you, design you, derail you, and discourage you. 🤷🏾‍♀️

But during those short morning moments, life is asking YOU, not EVERYBODY.

Why?

But in the end, you’re the diva of your melody🕺🏾 , the guru of your glow ✨, the dynamo of your destiny ⚡️, and what else Dulra 🤔…. yes! I got it….the queen of your queendom 👑

Bottomline, you have a choice here- to be the best or to be the best version of yourself yet (i.e better). 💯

Apple doesn’t make the best phones. They make the best phones yet. 👌🏾

The word "yet" is the game-changer here. It introduces the concept of ongoing progress. 🤌🏾

It implies that there are more heights to reach 🕺🏾 , more skills to acquire, and more experiences to gain, more mistakes to make 😁 , and more lessons to learn. It's an open invitation to continuous self-improvement. 👌🏾

Take every opportunity to be better. Question any desire to be the best.

That’s it for this week. 😁

Go be your best self yet!

Strive to be better. See better. Act better. Think better.

Question of the week👇🏾

How do we get better at being better?

Until next time,
Don’t Forget to be Awesome,

Dulra ❤️
Founder/CEO, Dot.