Welcome back to Inside Conversations with Dwania ! I hope you’re having an amazing long weekend so far. Woohoo! And Happy Canada day to everyone here in Canada.

It is so exciting to be back discussing with you ladies and I cannot wait to share with you our topic for today.

So get this! Based on the overwhelming response from our first Inside Conversations newsletter (yassss), we decided to pick a question asked by one of our readers and structure the newsletter around it.

I hope you’re ready because here goes . . .

Q: What is the one piece of advice that someone gave you that sticks with you to this day?

A: Phew! Let’s be real. You know I had to search deep within for this one haha, because really though, there have been so many people who have advised me along the way. But to find that one piece of advice that has stuck with me all these years, you know that’s a tough one!

OK, so the most impactful piece of advice I have received in my life was really my prep school motto. It still motivates me today. Growing up in Jamaica we were very competitive. I mean, we do have the fastest man and woman on the planet (shoutout) and we make our presence known wherever we go. My prep school motto which we had to say every single day during devotion was - “ONLY THE BEST IS GOOD ENOUGH.”  

For me, this saying serves two purposes. One, it lets me know that in every action performed in life, I should always put forth my best. I am not wired to do anything halfway or to strive for just average. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I am an over achiever by any means. I just always do my best. Which brings me to the other purpose of this profound statement. Once I have completed a task and I know I have done my best, I don’t beat myself up about it if it doesn’t work or if it doesn’t meet the expectations of others. Know this, that if someone is displeased with the work you’ve done, but you know deep down you have done the very best you can, then that is all that matters. So be happy (not satisfied) with the work done and look for ways that you could be better. 
One word that comes to mind when I read this quote is competition . Nowadays, everywhere you look, there’s competition to be the next best thing. People compete about looks, the amount of money in the bank, the size of the ring, the amount of followers one has on social media. We even compete with our family members. The list goes on. We’ve become so caught up with trying to meet everyone else’s expectations that we fail to be authentic. 

“If only I could make more money, then they’ll notice me. If only I drove a nicer car. If only I had a nicer body, a flatter stomach. Maybe if I said yes to everything they asked of me, they’d promote me. Maybe if I looked the part, they’d respect me.”

We have become so miserable and depleted, always wanting but never having. We don’t go the extra mile because it’s in us to be the very best. Instead we go the extra mile so people could put us on a pedestal and sing our praises. Our “best” has unfortunately become dependent on the likes, shares, subscriptions, the number of followers, views and comments we have. We could be better, yet we settle for the second rate version of who we could be.

But if we are being completely fair, not all of us have fallen into that way of life. There are some of you out there that truly put your best foot forward each time around. And for that, I stand in your corner and I genuinely cheer you on! I know there have been times where it seemed that your best was never good enough, but here you are - still standing. You didn’t allow the naysayers to get to you. You didn’t allow the competition to cloud your vision. You pushed through on a daily and gave it your all, with or without a support system.

So don’t beat yourself up any longer when things don’t go according to plan. Look in the mirror each day and let your reflection be your only competition.

Because at the end of the day, YOUR best is always good enough.

Talk soon!