I used to think getting the best of everything was the way to have the best life. Learning about fashion taught me I was wrong.

I used to think that if I want to look good, I should pick my best shirt, and my best pants, and my best jacket, and my best shoes, and that would make me look the best possible. I wore this to a fashion consultant and she instantly said: they don’t match. They don’t go together. They don’t look good together. I thought I was presenting my best self and I thought I was looking my best because I was wearing and showing all of my best. This experience taught me that matching things, thinking about how items complement each other, and having things fit has more power than having the best thing in every category.

To look good, I need to have a good outfit. ‘Fit’ is literally in the word outfit. Fit is more important. This idea is true for more than just clothes. It’s true for life as well.

Pick complementary skills. To be the best person possible isn’t to be the best in every category. It’s to be the best at a core, and then be the best in things that complement that core something.

Pick complementary activities. Like being good at sports, and also nutrition to support the exercise, and physical therapy to support the injuries from sports, and sports psychology to support the competitive mindset to win at sports. Those activities complement each other better than being good at sports, and also poetry critiquing, and also ceramic pottery. Or, better example, it’s hard to be the best sprinter and the best long distance runner in the world. The two sports do not complement each other. One requires big heavy muscles that tire out quickly, and the other requires small light muscles that tire out slowly.

Pick personality and character traits that complement each other. In all things, look for fit. Look at the big picture. Don’t just focus on getting the best individual thing. It has to make sense in the context. Recognizing this will unlock your best potential and enable you to do more, get more, be more.

In this comic, a light bulb wants to be a strobe light. 

The lightbulb tries to live its dream and starts flickering on and off in the living room.

As a result, the light bulb is thrown away by owner for being a malfunctioning light bulb for the living room. 

This is a reminder that reality trumps wants/desires. And that position is everything. If the light bulb was in the position of a strobe light in a night club or bar, then the light bulb would be safe to strobe.

Remember your place. If you need sleep, get sleep. If you need water, get water. If you need fruits/vegetables/protein/fiber, get it. If you need family/friends/relationships, make time for them. If you want to do what you want, do what you need first. If you have to do something to survive, then do that thing. Survival first. Needs first. Then wants.