Fact: There are only 24 hours in a day.

The title of this post came from the movie, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.”  In this scene a surfing instructor (Paul Rudd) is trying to teach the land lessons of surfing to the main character (Jason Segel) before they go out into the water.

In full, the surfing instructor said, “Don’t do anything. Don’t try to surf, don’t do it. The less you do, the more you do.”

That quote has been running through my head this week as I see a lot of people fighting over who’s got the best information to share, who’s got the most knowledge on a subject and who to trust and who not to trust in the “expert” category.

Here’s my humble suggestion: Stop trying to be the best – and just do your best.

Do the best job you can and work your butt off in whatever work you do. Work hard, keep learning and read everything you can – whether or not you agree with it (especially when you don’t agree with it).  Read to evaluate other arguments and hear what others have to say. Even when you disagree you can pull a new idea or a new angle out of an article or blog post.

If you do the best you can, and you do it well, you will naturally emerge as a leader.  Lead by example. Stop spending time promoting your knowledge and instead cultivate your knowledge.

If and when you do emerge as a thought or industry leader – use your opportunity to learn even more and keep changing and keep evolving right along with the world.  If you stay in one spot spouting knowledge you will get left behind. If you’re ever named the top of your field – KEEP GOING.  Don’t stop, don’t look around and rest and certainly don’t spout off that you’re the best. You have to keep working at doing your best, keep learning and keep pushing yourself, because the top is only temporary and motion is constant.

You always still have your best work ahead of you if you’re willing to push yourself.  If you stop and think you’ve achieved success, you’re cheating yourself out of what you could accomplish.

So, here’s my plea:  stop all the noise about who has the right answer, about who knows what and about who has the right way to do it.  Instead, challenge yourself everyday, focus on doing your absolute best and the rest – the rest will follow.

Conversation is GOOD – let’s keep talking – but instead of talking about how we know it all and who is the best; instead, talk about thoughts, strategies, pros and cons and share real ideas – you never know how far it might take you.