Why not to chase the ‘Best’

The gym that I go to is not the ‘best’ in the conventional way. It has the basic weights and machines, nothing fancy. There is no steam room, swimming pool, activity area (dance, zoumba, cycling, etc). I often miss the Gold’s Gym that I used to workout in while in Indore. I also remember the Gym that I used to go to in 2013 — Burn. That gym had all the fancy equipments, steam rooms, etc. Yet it was a 10 minute drive from my place. My current gym is just a 30 second walk from my home.

While renewing my annual membership today, I had no second thoughts about the gym I wanted to go to. There is one lesson I have learnt over the last few years: Join the gym closest to your place. The biggest reason to choose one gym over the other (atleast for me) is distance. When you reach home from work, exhausted, at 7:30 PM the last thing you’d want to do is drive through the traffic to a gym. If I was a professional athlete, then my criteria for choosing the gym would be different and definitely not convenience. What I realise is that the best is not always convenient and practical.

Not just about gyms, but also about something that I look at on a daily basis — Investments. Almost everyone is chasing the “best” stock to invest in or earning the “best” returns. We are using best more than required and truly do not understand what best actually means. If you are able to earn 15% p.a. on your investments and that is what you need, why break your head over higher returns? In no way does this mean that one should not strive to be better! Every day, try to be the best that you can be. But you don’t have to eat the best food, drink the best coffee, use the best car and watch the best movie! How many times have we looked at the menu in a restaurant and wondered what the “best” dish is?

The Best is an illusion and all of us tend to chase the “best”. Sometimes, the best is not really the best for us.