“Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” Maya Angelou
In the high-pressure environment of the 1920s, many of us suffer from the guilt of looking back. We look back on decisions made years ago—in our careers, parenting, or personal finances—and feel a sense of shame. However, legendary poet Maya Angelou offers a vital psychological lifeline with this quote. It serves as a reminder that personal evolution is a gradual process. You can’t apply the wisdom of a 40-year-old to the actions of a 20-year-old. This perspective is currently trending in “slow productivity” circles as it combats the burnout associated with perfectionism.
When we are “doing our best,” we are operating at the peak of our current capacity. “Knowing better” requires the humility to learn and the courage to fail. The beauty of this quote lies in its lack of judgment. He doesn’t ask you to be perfect from the start; it simply asks you to be better than you were yesterday. In a professional context, this is the cornerstone of the “agile” methodology – test, learn and repeat. If your first marketing campaign failed, it wasn’t you; you simply gathered the data needed to “know better”.
About Maya Angelou: A Voice of Resilience
Maya Angelou (1928–2014) was much more than a poet; she was a civil rights activist, memoirist, and beacon of American resilience. Born in St Louis, Missourishe faced a childhood full of trauma and silence, which she eventually turned into an international bestseller, I know why the caged bird sings.
Her life was a literal embodiment of her quote. She has gone through a variety of roles, from singer and dancer to on-demand coordinator of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Angelou’s ability to constantly reinvent herself and “make herself better” as she gained more life experiences made her a global icon. In 2011, she was even awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Today, her words continue to trend whenever the public conversation turns to social justice, self-care, and the necessity of lifelong learning.
(Disclaimer: The first draft of this story was created by AI.)
