Do your best, no matter what, and win or lose, you can hold your head up, knowing that you tried.

It’s sound advice. It’s usually given by parents to a child who faces some competition, and is unsure of the outcome.

It can also be twisted into something really wrong, in the wrong hands.

At a rally in North Carolina, Donald Trump distorted this saying, just as he has so many other things.

“I am working hard,” Trump said at an afternoon rally in Fletcher, N.C., his first of three campaign stops on Friday. “I’ve got three [and] on occasion I have four [rallies]. I think I have one rest day when I have two, but these are massive rallies and we’re going to do this for the next 19 days right up until the actual vote of Nov 8.

“Then I don’t know what kind of shape I’m in but at least I will have known win, lose or draw — and I’m almost sure if the people come out we’re going to win — I will be happy with myself,” he said.

You’re not working hard enough, Donald. You’re certainly not doing your best.

You’ve blown off your advisors, abused the very party you seek to lead, and have shown no ability to express humility, contrition, or grace.

“I always say I don’t want to think back, ‘If I did one more rally, I would have won North Carolina by 500 votes instead of losing it by 200 votes,” he said, describing an Election Day possibility. “I never want to say that about myself.”

Less than five minutes later, while urging his supporters to get out and vote, Trump said the crowd: “What a waste of time if we don’t pull this off.”

If he truly believed in his message, or what he claims he has been trying to do for the American people, he wouldn’t consider it a waste of time.

Trump has acted like a spoiled child, not someone who grew up in a household where losing with grace and good sportsmanship was ever taught.

His refusal to accept the outcome of the election, unless he wins, is the reaction of someone who feels “owed” power.

I’m not saying Hillary Clinton is any better, but for those who want to hold Trump up as different or better, he has yet to prove it.

That may be why he’s losing.