It is not for you to complete the task…

It is not for you to complete the task, RAbbi tarfon wisely advises that each person is obligated to accomplish his or her maximum. No one is obligated to achieve perfection.

— from Goals, Action & Defining Success (Goal/Action/Success/Motivation)

In the book

And hold, finally, the wisest line our tradition has on effort and outcome. Rabbi Tarfon taught that it is not your duty to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it — no one is obligated to achieve perfection, but everyone is obligated to do their maximum. That is the whole of it: your maximum, on the process you control, aimed at a success you chose — and then peace with whatever outcome arrives. […] Feed the right fuel. Lean on autonomy, mastery, and purpose; do what you genuinely enjoy; and check that the drive is honestly your own. Measure by greatness, not the scoreboard; accept your own imperfection; and do your maximum, not perfection. To my children, and to theirs: […] The second, and it is the engine under all my own success: listen. The deals I closed, the life I built, came less from being clever than from paying attention to what other people actually wanted and finding a way to get there together. And hold Rabbi Tarfon close: you are not obligated to finish the work, nor to be perfect — only to do your maximum. Aim at a success you chose, give it your full effort on the part you control, and let that be enough. — Goals, Action & Defining Success (Goal/Action/Success/Motivation)

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