Jackie Chan's Best Advice

Whatever you do, do the best you can, because the film live forever. "No, because, you know, that day raining and the actor don't have time". I said "Would you go to every theater to tell the audience?" No! The audience sit in the theater -- "good movie", "bad movie". That's all.

I try to follow it with everything I do. With professional work -- the software I create, the screenplays I write and the films I produce. With my personal life -- how I talk to people, the things I buy and the cleanliness of my house.

To function, it must be implemented at every level. To do the best we can in software work, we must do the best we can with every line of code, email to a client and commit message. We will not clean our house the best we can unless we take care to pull out a toothbrush when needed, and even research the right toothbrush to have in our cleaning kit (don't worry, any will do).

I can hear you already, "it's too mentally tasking to do". That line of thought is exactly what Jackie Chan advises us against. Even when the reservation is true, even when it's raining and the actor doesn't have time, we should ask ourselves "how can this be done despite the trouble". Same thing goes for the advice itself. Instead of dismissing it on the account of mental load, one should ask "How can I apply this in my life anyway?"

Do no conflate "the best you can" with "perfect". They are different things. "The best you can" refers to achieving goals. Goals usually combine all considerations, rather than the focus on an isolated metric of quality. The goal to have good breakfast will not be achieved the best you can if you eternally postpone it trying to perfect a french omelette.

Not any goal will do. Goals must adhere to high standards. That is why it can take Jackie Chan a year to film a movie. He takes the time needed to do the best he can, and still, he says, can see the imperfections when watching his own work. We should balance.

Yet it is true. Even though it's somewhat of an "obvious" insight, it is very hard to put into practice. Around every corner hides a legitimate reason to do less.

We must remember that having reasons does not turn a failure to success. End results are completely unaffected by rationalization as to why they should or shouldn't be the way they are.

An end result is just is.