Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Standard is chuẩn in Vietnamese. Whatever we do, we automatically have a standard for that task – it can be “I will do the best job I can possibly do,” repeating “can” twice or, at the other extreme, “Whatever is OK.”

The people with the highest standard for themselves in each task are greatly successful in life, however you define success. That is a matter of course – if you always try hard to produce a product, that would probably be the best product in the market and would sell very well.

The ones with “whatever is OK,” we all know they are always losers.

So, winning or losing is simply a matter of you setting up the work standard for yourself. No one can set standard for you. Your boss can set standard, but if you don’t like it, either he fires you, or you find another place to work, or you do your own business.

The good standard is not “My product will be the best product in this market,” because if everyone in the market is lousy, you may produce a half-baked product, and your product may still be number one in that lousy market.

So, to develop your full potential, the standard must be “I will do the best job I can in this task.” You use you to measure against yourself.

Now, think more about that. Many things in Việt Nam are done with standards lower than standards for the same tasks done in more advanced markets, such as US or EU.

You can have the standard “my product will the best in US and EU.” But that standard still may not fully develop your potential, because if you try harder, you may come up with a revolutionary product that goes beyond the current world 2 decades, for example. Everyone needs 2 decades to catch up with you, or never can catch up with you, because when they get to where you are now, you are already 2 or 3 decades beyond them.

Of course, not everyone in the world can be superman. But the point I am trying to demonstrate is what people say often: “Human potential is unlimited.”

Your potential is unlimited. If you don’t try to limit your potential by anything outside yourself, such as a market, then you may go so far, much further than you have ever imagined.

Just always do the best you can. If you still can do a better job, then do the better job.

Then (1) you will be surprised how much you are better than you have imagined, and (2) you will discover the truth – The matter is not intelligence, or learning, or degree, or experience. The matter is what your standard is and how you keep raise your standard up against yourself.

With compassion,

Hoành

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