The Power of Doing Your Best
A Mother's Day Message That Stuck
When I was younger, I held the false belief that academic education was the great differentiator when it came to determining success. I believed that the most traditionally intelligent person always came out ahead in life. As a result, I always found myself in a state of never-ending competition, striving to prove myself amongst a more academically gifted group of friends and acquaintances.
However, as I've grown, I came to realize that emotional intelligence is more important when it comes to determining long-term success. I define emotional intelligence as the intrinsic ability for self-awareness, introspection, and motivation. Unlike calculus or computer science, these abilities aren't learned as easily or as formally. Instead, they're learned from trial and error, observation, and the guidance of other emotionally intelligent individuals.
While I'm far from having mastered these skills, I am at a point in my life where I understand their importance and recognize them in other people. Looking back, I've come to realize that it was my mother who instilled this appreciation of the qualitative aspects of life in me from an early age. In honor of Mother's Day, I thought I'd reflect on the impact my mother has had on my life as an entrepreneur and share the two most important values that she instilled in me.
The first value my mother taught me is that it's okay to strive for something greater. Despite having a comfortable upbringing in a loving middle-class family, my mother always had the ambition to strive for something greater. Rather than simply seeking social mobility and affluence, she embraced a more broad sense of ambition, constantly looking to improve and grow in everything that she did.
I vividly recall a moment from my childhood when I was upset because I wasn't one of the smartest kids in my class. My mother caught on to my pre-teen angst and told me that I was the only person who could determine my station in life. She made it clear that natural ability was only one small part of the equation, and that the burning desire to achieve something greater was what would give me the strength to push forward. This lesson taught me that ambition was more important than natural ability, and that it was okay for me to strive for something greater.
The second value my mother instilled in me is that if a job is worth doing, it's worth doing exceptionally well. Whether she's planning a party, volunteering for some cause, or helping her child with a school project, she puts full effort into the task at hand. As a teenager, it drove me crazy, as there was no such thing as a lazy day in her house. However, as I've grown, I've found that she was right.
This inherited mentality has led me to where I am today. Nearly ten years ago, I was working as a consultant doing valuation and M&A work for small and mid-market companies. Despite feeling unqualified, I applied for a strategy role at a Fortune 500 company and threw myself into creating a comprehensive white paper as part of the application process. It was this over-the-top effort that sealed the deal and led to unexpected opportunities that changed my life.
My mother has always been my advocate, confidant, and motivator, and there isn't a single passing day where I'm not grateful for her influence and stunning emotional intelligence. The lessons she taught me, such as the value of emotional intelligence, the importance of ambition over natural ability, and the power of doing a job exceptionally well, have been directly responsible for any successes I've achieved in my life.
These values have given me the confidence and drive to push myself farther than I ever thought I could go, and have led to amazing results and life-changing opportunities. As I reflect on Mother's Day, I am reminded of the profound impact my mother has had on shaping me into the person I am today, and I am forever grateful for her wisdom and guidance.