At the end of 2018, I made a New Year’s resolution to embrace the mantra that “oh well” is better than “what if”. This meant that I wanted to stop limiting myself in fear of falling short of my aspirations and see ideas through to the end. It was founded on the belief that the pain of falling short is far less than the pain and regret of stopping short of a goal. Ultimately, it was a commitment to finishing well.

Two years later, as I and many of those around me are coming to the end of our schooling, ‘finish well’ seems to be a message we keep telling each other. Unlike my situation in 2018, the temptation to give up or start slacking is not rooted in a fear of failure, but more so exhaustion from the years of our lives that have been committed to the academic process. It’s been a lot.

My problem right now is that my grades, thus far, have been quite strong. So, if I were to start slacking, I could probably still come out with a reasonable mark. However, this comes at the cost of me knowing I wasted my potential.

C, Glorious C!

Back in GCSEs, I had a friend who got a C in maths and another who got a B. On paper, it looked like the 2^nd friend did better but in practice, I would argue the first one did. You see, friend 1 found maths to be a real struggle. The C was a product of hard revision, extra maths lessons in her lunch breaks, and many restless nights. It wasn’t easy but the outcome exceeded her expectations. The C elated her.

Friend 2, on the other hand, had a far nicer relationship with maths. Without trying she got As and Bs, and when she really applied herself, she’d knock out an A*. So, even though, the B was a solid grade, it was evidence of her not performing to the best of her capabilities. She stopped short of reaching her full potential.

Friend 2 may have achieved the better grade, but greater satisfaction and accomplishment was felt by friend 1.  Knowing this is what’s keeping me going.

Doing Your Best

‘All you can do is your best’ – this idea was drummed into my head from an early age. It’s clichéd, overused, and technically not factual. If I wanted to, I could do my worst, or perform at a plethora of other levels between the two extremes, but I know that’s not the point.

The message is trying to encourage you to aim for the best performance you can. Why? Because there is great satisfaction in finishing knowing you did the best that you were capable of.

Yes, there may be heartbreak if the goal isn’t fully realised, but the regret of prematurely giving up and squandering your efforts is far worse. You are left with the uncertainty of not knowing what could have been. This brings us back full circle to the idea that “oh well” is better than “what if”.

To commit to not stopping short is to commit to doing your best all the way to the finish line. It’s continuing to try your hardest, even when you could probably still get by if you started slacking. It’s about being able to look back and be satisfied that for the given circumstance, you used whatever strength you had left to keep going. It’s about finishing well.

Finish well.

Finish well.

Finish well.

That’s what I keep reminding myself to do.

Even if I come out with a lower grade than desired, I will know that I did the best that I was capable of at the time. And that’s all anyone can ask of me.