Becoming The Best Version Of Yourself – Part 3

So after writing part 2 of this series last week, I stopped to ask myself: “Why should I care about becoming the best version of myself? 

“After all, not being the best version of myself won’t stop me from ‘making heaven’,” I said.

Now, If you haven’t figured it out yet, I can come across as pretty intense- it’s just how I’m naturally wired. 

So from time to time, I weigh myself on the ‘weighty content’ scale to see where I’m at and make adjustments if I need to. The scale ranges from too light-weight-and-mostly- nonsensical to you-take-yourself-too-serious-so-take-a-chill-pill. 

My goal is to talk about weighty matters but with a light-hearted flare- I don’t always succeed. Now this topic I don’t particularly think is thaaaat weighty but trust me, that can quickly change with me in the writing seat.

Anyways the point is, when I find myself asking these questions, I can’t help but wonder if you’re asking yourself the same thing. 

Maybe you aren’t asking, in which case, I’m totally overthinking this or maybe you are. If you are in the latter category, I thought I’d share my thoughts (after asking myself the question), in two short points:

1. The best version of you is actually the real you. Thanks to Adam and Eve, we adopted a lesser quality version of who we are. But with Jesus came options. I’m yet to find anyone who opted for a lesser quality of anything if they had their way. So why settle for a lesser version of you
2. The best version of you is God’s desire and purpose for you, in a nutshell, no matter what your ‘calling’ is. Are you as driven as I am to fulfil God’s purpose for your life here on earth? Then you should care about becoming the best version of you. Period.

For what it’s worth, I suspect the improved you will be waaaay cooler anyway- at least that’s how I like to think the improved me will be.

So with that out of the way, let’s tackle our next “pointer”.

(Quick recap: the other two pointers to becoming the best version of you were: becoming more self–aware and embracing change)

Pointer #3- Embracing failure

Yes, it’s another ‘embrace’ pointer which obviously means the word immediately following, generally sucks. It’s OK to take off your religious glasses for a second and admit it: 

Failure sucks! 

(You’re smart so I’m sure you know a ‘but’ is coming right up)

BUUUUTTT, as annoying as it is (OK, guess it’s just me that finds the following fact annoying) failure CAN BE a catalyst to your growth if you let it. 

I recently stumbled on this children’s computer maths game recently, called ‘Find the number’. The concept is simple: Guess the number the computer man was thinking. 

Your first guess is almost always wrong except you’ve somehow developed some Star Wars level of AI telepathy (clearly I don’t watch a lot of Star Wars).  

So will your next couple of guesses. But the more guesses you get incorrect (coupled with computer dude shouting ‘‘It’s smaller/bigger than that” and “It’s between 46 and 60!”) the closer you get to the right answer. In other words, each “failure” brings you one step closer to success.

The key part of this story is the kids themselves. They don’t even think of the incorrect answers as failures- they just see them as stepping stones to the final, correct answer; they see them as opportunities to adjust their tactics. 

And the faster they get past the incorrect answers, the quicker they arrive at the correct one. That, my friends, is embracing failure.

If only adults were that smart…

Isn’t it sad that the older and wiser we become, the more averse and afraid we become of the very thing (and I’m not talking about the computer game) that will cause us to grow? 

Trust me, I get it: we have more to lose than children do. Failure and mistakes can be expensive and sometimes we simply cannot afford it- or so we think.

But how ironic is it that the principle doesn’t change, even for us?

If you’re like me, you’re probably rolling your eyes and raising your hands in exasperation round about now and asking: “Ok, so what do I do then?”

I think the answer to that question is simple, though not easy. You already know you’ll need to embrace failure but to do that you’ll change your perception about failure. 

I apparently recommend the perception of a child. This is why I told the story of the kids‘ computer game- and the kids themselves.

But more importantly, it’s the mindset God instructs us to have. Not just as it relates to failure but with the way we live out our Christian faith. (Matthew 18:3, Mark 10:14-15)

God instructs, yes. But we are the ones who benefit from obeying.

Just another demonstration of God’s all-encompassing love for us.

He wants us to grow; He wants us to become the exceptional creations He moulded us to be. But we stand in our own way when we run from the pain of failure.

So you have more to lose when (notice, I didn’t say ‘if’) you fail but think about it for a second- can you really afford not to?? 

Fact is, you‘ll fail at something at some point, especially if you’re really living and growing and putting yourself out there. So you might as well use it to propel yourself to the better version of you.

Next week, we’ll look at the last ‘pointer’ to becoming the best version yourself: Finding and Following your purpose