Be the Best

" I cannot do everything, but I can still do something.   I will not refuse to the something I can do!"  - Helen Keller

President Jimmy Carter

President Jimmy Carter in his autobiography, Why Not the Best, he tells about his interview with Admiral Hyman Rickover, the father of the nuclear Navy, who served on active duty until he was 83 years old. Admiral Rickover personally interviewed every prospective nuclear officer and he made the interviews tough on the novice officers.

When President Carter had his interview, the Admiral asked him what his standing was in his graduating class at the Naval Academy. President Carter said "I swelled my chest with pride and answered, sir, I stood 59th in a class of 820!" and then I sat back to wait for the congratulations.

Instead of congratulations, the Admiral asked, "Did you do your best?" President Carter said he started to answer, "Yes sir," but he thought about who he was talking to, gulped, and admitted, "No sir, I didn’t always do my best." President Carter said the Admiral just looked at him for the longest time and then asked only one more question, which the President said he has never been able to forget, and which he was never able to answer—the Admiral asked, "Why not?"

If you are not the best, it does not mean you are a failure. If you are not the best you can be, it does not mean you are a failure. You are only a failure when—you do not try to be the best you can be. If you are not willing to do your best while training in Taekwondo, then do not waste your time. If Taekwondo is to have a real meaning in your life, you must dedicate yourself to trying to do your best every time you train or compete. As the Army slogan said, "Be the best you can be."