Do your best or should you?

WARNING: There is some foul language below. Continue at your own discretion.

Have you ever seen the movie The Rock? It makes me feel old just thinking about it as it came out 20 years ago. OMG! Was it that long ago?

My favourite scene from this movie is this scene below:

For those of you who didn't click on the link (you should, it is only 22 seconds) here is the script:

Sean Connery: Are you sure you are ready for this?
Nicholas Cage: I'll do my best
Sean Connery: Your 'behsht!' Losers always whine about their 'behsht.' Winners go home and fuck the prom queen.
Nicholas Cage: Carla was the prom queen.
Sean Connery: Really?
Nicholas Cage: Yeah.

Classic movie scene that. I love the way Sean Connery says the word "best."

What can we learn from this scene?

Well, plenty as a matter of fact even though it is only 22 seconds long.

First of all Sean Connery tried to assert his power on the situation. He didn't have much confidence in Nicholas Cage's character to do the job and Cage responded with the time honoured 'best' line which in my mind is perfectly acceptable. Isn't that all we were asked? To give our best and if we finished knowing that we have done our best then we should be happy.

Well, not according to Connery, maybe that's why I didn't fuck the prom queen in high school, although in New Zealand we didn't have proms we had school balls.

So, is it good enough to do your best? Well, yes and no. Everyone's best is different. Today at Crossfit I was able to complete five rounds of 15 dumbbell exercises and a 600 metre run. I thought that I did my best and I couldn't run any faster. It was more than 30 degrees and the last run was torture for the first 200 metres but I managed to complete the workout and feel good about it.

However, I think what Connery is saying is that unless you really knock it out of the park then you are not going to get the rewards that come along with it. Unless you really kick ass you are not going to get the material things you dream of.

I'm not an expert in American culture but from what I know from watching American movies the prom queen is the most popular girl school, probably the most beautiful and any guy would be lucky to fuck her as Sean Connery so eloquently puts it.

I don't want to sound like a sexist pig but to get the prom queen is just a symbol for getting what you want but you have to really put in the hard yards. You have to have the early mornings and the late nights. You have to sacrifice those Friday and Saturday nights to work on getting what you want and if you achieve it then you will get the chance to fuck the prom queen.