There’s something that is far more important than reaching one of your goals: the process that leads you there. If you’re going to do something—no matter what it is—do it to the best of your ability.
Developing a good process and solid work ethic can come from everything you do, not just the one thing you’re trying to accomplish.
“The way a person does one thing is the way they do everything” I used to be a someone who would cut corners on what I thought were small things. For example, I would make my bed but I wouldn’t tuck the sheets all the way in. I would clean the house but not pull the sofa out and vacuum under. I would complete a task to 80% of my ability and then stop when I thought it was good enough. What I couldn’t see at the time was; by cutting corners on the small things and not doing them to the best of my ability, I had developed a habit of laziness and mediocrity.
It may seem like you’re just skimping on the unimportant stuff, or saving energy for your big tasks, but repetition makes a habit. Eventually, you get yourself used to the idea that doing most of something is okay, and one day that mentality can cross over into the things you do care about. You’ll wonder why success eludes you, but the answer is in your process. If you do one thing lazily, you’ll do everything lazily. 
I see this day in day out in the gym where the majority of people have little respect for the small things, the way they warm up, how they set up for a warm up set on a deadlift etc. I ask people to respect the finer details as it carriers over but no matter how much I say this people fail to treat a wall squat with the same focus as a 1rm back squat when they are very much correlated. How you do ANYTHING in the gym is how you do EVERYTHING.
Of course, there’s a difference between not cutting corners and perfectionism. Trying to make everything perfect will burn you out fast. Just give what you really know you can and avoid the easy way out, even for the little things. You’ll be much stronger for it.
