Good…
Lately, things have been going right.
Awards. Wins. New role. Family milestones. All the stuff that signals progress.
And I am grateful, deeply.
But I’m not satisfied.
There’s this motto I grew up with, something my Caribbean parents (and just about every schoolteacher I knew) used to say:
“Good, better, best. Never let it rest until your good becomes your better and your better becomes your best.”
It was drilled into us as kids, but the older I get, the more I understand it’s not about perfection. It’s about pressure, positive pressure. The kind of positive momentum that keeps you moving even when the world says you’ve probably done well enough.
Better…
Lately, I’ve been thinking about what it means to reach for “best”. Not as a final destination, but as a standard of intention. In healthcare, especially, that’s a radical concept. “Best” is a moving target. “Best” is context-dependent. “Best” is often unattainable.
But when we say “best”, we don’t necessarily mean ideal. In every scenario, the ideal is that our patients would not need us, that they would live healthful lives, in environments that prioritize their wellness, that the powers that be would center every decision on patient’s individual wellbeing. Ideal is not attainable, but our best is.
When we tell ourselves that we will deliver the care that we’d give our mothers.
That’s the real metric. That is a standard we can hold ourselves to.
With Mother’s Day on the horizon, I find myself asking:
If your mother were the patient, would you be okay with “pretty good”? With “most days, we get it right”?
How could you justify anything less than your best for her?
You wouldn’t. You couldn’t.
And that’s the whole point.
(The image is not my mother, she would want you to know that. She’s much more beautiful than even AI could imagine.)
The Science of Striving: Goal Setting in Healthcare
Research underscores the importance of goal setting in driving performance and improvement. In healthcare, setting specific, challenging goals has been shown to effectively motivate attainment, especially when formulated within a SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) . Moreover, engaging patients in goal-setting processes enhances their confidence, motivation, and satisfaction with care, highlighting the collaborative nature of striving for “best” in clinical settings .
Tim Duncan: A Case Study in Consistent Excellence
Tim Duncan, the NBA Hall of Famer known as “The Big Fundamental,” exemplifies the “good, better, best” philosophy. Raised in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Duncan was taught this mantra by his late mother, which he carried throughout his basketball career . His unwavering commitment to excellence, humility, and teamwork led to five NBA championships and a legacy of consistent performance. Duncan’s approach wasn’t about flashy plays but about doing the right thing, the right way, every time. A lesson that resonates deeply in the pursuit of excellence in healthcare.
Best…
Patient Experience Week just passed. Nurses Week is here. These are moments when we pause to celebrate the incredible things healthcare professionals make possible when they operate at full capacity, when they lead with heart, skill, and grit. We’ve seen what’s possible when people show up and give it everything they’ve got.
But the celebrations also shine a light on what we’re still not doing. On the systems that are still too slow. On the experiences that are still inconsistent. On the gaps we’ve normalized.
And if we’re serious about change, we have to admit that we haven’t seen us at our best yet.
You think you know what you’re capable of, but our best is still out ahead of us, waiting to be reached.
Potential is a dare.
Best is a challenge.
The wins are worth celebrating. It is important to celebrate each other in the pursuit of excellence. But we are not celebrating an end, we have not accomplished all that we will accomplish. We are celebrating our ongoing commitment to the noble pursuit of excellence in health care.
Because we’re serious about equity, about empathy, about excellence, we can’t stop at “good” enough.
We can’t even stop at “better.”
We have to keep going. For our patients. For our teams.
And yes, for our mothers.
In both healthcare and life, the pursuit of “best” is a continuous journey. It’s about setting goals that challenge us, collaborating with others to achieve them, and never settling for “good enough.” As we honor the dedication of healthcare professionals during Nurses Week and reflect on the care we provide, let’s remember to strive for the excellence we’d expect for our own mothers. Because in the end, every patient deserves nothing less than our best.
Geoffrey Silvera, PhD MHA 