As a Cub Scout, my 8 year old son repeats the Cub Scout Motto, "Do your Best" at the cub scout meetings As a Cub Scout dad, I help him with certain projects and activities, but try to let him do a lot of the work, even if it isn't perfect. Every once in a while, he will get frustrated when he messes up. Sometimes he sees his best as imperfect and not good enough. I remind him that it doesn't need to be perfect, and encourage him to keep trying. He should do the best he can, and not give up.
"Do your best" doesn't mean perfection, but it does mean learning from errors and mistakes, and improving on them. This is a motto that we all can live by in our personal lives and in our careers. One of the hardest things to do is to admit when you have erred, because in our minds we try to hold ourselves up as competant fathers, mothers, spouses, siblings, business people, or human beings. We erronously equate competency with perfection, and try to live by these standards. When we do this, it can become a big let down when we are faced with our own faults.
"Do your best" also doesn't mean that I just let myself off the hook every time I mess up. It means I will do the VERY best I can to do better, not 90%, or 95%, but 100% effort. It means work. This is a challenge, but not impossible. I don't need to be perfect, but I need to try, try, try again.