Quotes of the Week from Me:

“It’s all about effort. More is better than less.”

“Perform great works.”

“What makes life worth living?”

“Your direction is more important than how fast you travel.”

Quotes of the Week from Others:

“You are never as good as everyone tells you when you win, and you are never as bad as they say when you lose.” – Lou Holtz

“Entrepreneur’s mind. Athlete’s body. Artist’s soul.” – James Clear

Quick Optimism

I can’t stress it enough: wake up earlier. Just do it.

I usually come up with the Quick Optimism section but this was too good:

“The secret to waking up is to wake up way earlier than you have to. When you have 1-2 hours where you can just sit there calmly, drinking coffee, and not be rushed, you feel ten times better. Later on, you can work on being productive in the morning too, if you please.” – Simon Sarris

It’s Monday. If you wake up just one hour earlier than you typically do for the rest of this week, I bet by the weekend you won’t even want to sleep in.

Questions of the Week:

What does more effort get you?

More effort gets you things that last. More effort grants you opportunity, and the more effort you exert, the prouder you’ll feel. That’s pretty cool.

This week I wrote this in my journal: “It’s all about effort. More is better than less.”

As Mark Cuban put it, “The one thing you can control in your life is your effort.” In the interview, he goes on to talk about how certain people carry the trait and others don’t. But instead of making comparisons between people, or exploring how to out-perform others, it might be helpful to look at your own effort first.

What does effort mean to you?

In a lot of ways, effort is its literal meaning. It’s an attempt. And once we make enough attempts, our attempts become our standard. Try not to confuse effort with outcome. When we make enough attempts, a higher standard of effort exists. Hopefully outcomes follow, but that’s not always something we can control.

Effort makes me think, “Do the right thing.” When I am tired and it’s time to settle in for the night, it takes effort. It takes effort to change diapers, change kids into pajamas, and do the nightly bedtime routine. It takes effort to brush everyone’s teeth and lock up the house. It doesn’t take long, but it’d be easier to skip some or all of it.

When I think about effort, I think about people. Not always competing with them, but spending time with them, sharing experiences, and caring about one another.

Effort means maintaining the things we enjoy in life. It means committing to long-term benefits through day-to-day tasks and commitments that compound over time. It starts with health and experiences. It includes other things like financial stability, figuring out ways to have more of it, and it includes stuff (materialism) too. Maintaining the quality of our relationships and the things we own takes effort. That is a very good baseline, and it will definitely keep you very busy.

Effort is more than that though. Effort offers additional benefits that contribute to our sense of purpose. No matter what we find ourselves interested in or committed to, effort gives us “skin in the game” – we want a beneficial outcome for the time we put in. It contributes to a sense of accomplishment. That’s why so many people admire those who achieve through effort.

Effort is all of these things and clearly adds value to our lives, so why do so many people avoid it, like Mark Cuban suggested?

Well, it’s difficult. It is especially difficult. And effort is continuous. When you take a chance and put effort into something, you’ll face obstacles. You’ll have to face your own doubts and the doubts of others. Your expectations will grow and you’ll eventually realize that effort does not lead to conclusive feelings of satisfaction. Kind of like the age-old, “Win the day!” It feels good. It’s a nice little mental boost, but then you realize there is another day tomorrow. And the next day. Many people will think, “You can’t win every day.” But effort is trying to anyway.  

Put in a great effort this Monday.