By now you’ve surely heard the phrase be your best self.

Oprah tells us to live our best lives.

I was checking out at the grocery today and a magazine headline read How to be the best version of you!

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about what BEST means.

Clearly I’m all in. I’m a certified life coach, and I see the power of thought management in every aspect of my work.

But I’m going to be really honest. There are days when I’m certain that my best doesn’t look a THING like what Ms. O is talking about.

When I think of being the best, I think of my version of perfection.

For example, the best me should be at her ideal body weight.

The best me has all the expendable income she can wish for.

The best me is everybody’s favorite!

The reality, though, is very different.

Our BEST selves show up on a sliding scale.

We’re human. We’re going to have up’s and down’s.

We are going to have days when we eat something we regret. We are going to wish for something we don’t have, and we are going to annoy someone at some point. We just are.

My personal best looks different on different days at different times.

Yesterday I was physically and mentally exhausted so I took a day off. I indulged in bad court TV (a total guilty pleasure—but not Peoples’ Court—it’s too combative for me), reruns of The Mindy Project and a lot of pointless social media. I contributed NOTHING of value to the world at large yesterday. I just took some air.

However, I woke up today ready to lasso the galaxy. I’ve already crossed 3 things off my to-do list.

So, was I not being my BEST SELF yesterday? Am I being my BEST SELF today?

Frankly, I think I was at my best yesterday. I made a conscious decision to recharge, and I totally nailed it!

If you were to look in my window yesterday, you would’ve likely thought, “LOSER.”

Today, you might look in and think “ROCK STAR.” (Awwww, yeah.)

The good news is that we get to define our own Best Self.

No matter how many self-help books we read or how many positive blogs we check out, the reality is that all we can do is all we can do.

Show up as the best version of you, whatever that version looks like on that particular day at that particular time.

Remember, all the pieces of you add up to the whole you.

Be kind to all the parts, Beautifuls.

Be kind to yourself.

***Special thanks to my Great Grandma for ‘introducing’ this post. 🙂 **