Why NOT be the best you Can be, in Journal

an honest look.
Reason #1: It’s Hard. Reason #2: The results aren’t stellar. Especially at first.
Here we have to pause for a moment because, while no one can make a (good) argument that this isn’t hard, there are a lot of ideas to hash out about #2.
So the presupposition of #2 is motivation. The results have to be at least as good as the results of not Being The Best You Can Be, or else it would put anyone off from trying, ever.
Now, one thing to really consider would be that Being The Best You Can Be doesn’t result in uniformly Good or Bad outcomes. There is a certain amount of chance, or say, environmental influence on the outcome. If you happen to start out on our journey of Being The Best You Can Be with a Bad outcome, then you’ve got a negative association to deal with.
This is sort of analogous to training or perhaps parenting; you always make the right choice Easy, and the wrong choice Difficult. If you’ve properly prepared and know what you’re doing, training is easy. It’s just a matter of positive association on repeat. The distinction here is that the trainer would know what Good behavior looks like, and also what Bad behavior looks like. They would not be wandering around in the dark, searching for answers as we seem to be today.
If we examine our own ideas of what Good behavior might look like, we all have some pretty decent ideas. Don’t cheat. Don’t steal. Don’t lie.
These are all negatives; they’re a ban on certain behaviors. Merely not doing these things isn’t necessarily Good; it’s just not Bad. We recognize these actions as Bad because we wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of these behaviors. Yet, having an awareness of their negative value, they intrinsically point to their opposite; the positive. Then, honesty, charity, and telling the truth are virtues.
So, we kind of already know what Good and Bad looks like. We’re sort of like the trainer and also sort of like the dog because, we are capable of recognizing the behavior, whether it is Good or Bad, or better, best, less than ideal, etc, and also of formulating plans to make the Good easier and the Bad more difficult, which we will ourselves experience. So we are negotiating our own behavior with ourselves.
Most people do this; maybe it’s unconscious. If you get up and go to the gym you’ll allow yourself a snack as reward. If you skip that chocolate bar now, you’ll give yourself an extra serving of a healthier dish at dinner… etc. We aren’t just automatons doing things we know are Good simply because they are Good. There has to be something in it for us.
There is also the fact that pure sensual indulgence does not feel good in the long haul. Binge drinking, overeating, even over sleeping; too much self gratification leaves us miserable.
So there is a carrot and a stick.

(not done just taking a break)