#095: Four Ways to Make Your Best Work Even Better

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We all produce work in some form or fashion, and we all want to do our very best. But what happens when you finish your work, and know that it’s not your very best? Well, it is probably best to go back and fix your work to make it the best it can possibly be. But what if you could know what to do before you start working to set yourself up for producing even better work? It would save you tons of time, heartache, and frustration. In other words, it would set you up for success before you even begin.

Here are 4 ways to begin producing even better work, right now:

First, prepare to the best of your ability by conducting research.

Many people want to dive straight into their work without putting the time and effort into doing the research, but great work never skips this part. Prior to this podcast, I have established that ideas are meant to be built upon, and research is a part of the process that allows you to do just that. Conducting research allows you to take the findings of other people who have excelled in a specific area of work, and then lets you use what you find as a case study for your own work. How did they work? What did they find? How can you build on their ideas and make their work better? All of these questions matter, as the answers allow you to skip the mistakes that their previous work found for you. Learn from research and use the lessons to make your best work even better.

Second, bring passion into everything you do.

I am not just talking about the need to become passionate for your work, but the need to become passionate for life. This is what drives curiosity, and curiosity is a major factor in making your work the very best it can be. What solutions are you searching for? What can your discoveries do for the world? What is worth being passionate about? How can your passion impact people? These are just some questions that can spark curiosity within you, and let that be the main driving force behind what you do. When you are curious, you will persevere when others quit, and you will uncover solutions that others didn’t even think were possible.

Third, be creative with the entire process. 

It is imperative that you are creative with the entire process, because doing so will challenge your work and test your boundaries. And it is when you change things up and challenge yourself with your work that your best work will become even better. If you are looking for an answer you have never come up with before, you must use a different process to get there, and that’s where the beauty of creativity becomes most useful. Implementing creativity is how you produce different work, and in a world of so many similar options, different work usually equates to better work.

Fourth, allow other people to be a part of your work.

I don’t know about you, but if I am in my work for too long, I can miss out on seeing the important details. I can become so focused on finishing that I rush past the given moments of making my best work even better, and that’s why having other people around us is so important.

We need to bring other people into the work process, so they can look at our work and show us where we missed opportunities. We must have friends, mentors, coaches, an audience, and/or work colleagues, that we can be comfortable enough with to share our work with. When we only look at work from one direction, we can only produce work that appeals to a very select group of people. When we allow other people in, we embrace different perspectives, and take their useful advice to help our work reach endless possibilities.

Now, take these four tips to make your best work even better, today.