There are a lot of things in our lives that we cannot control; however, effort is not one of them. We can always control how long we study for tests, how quickly to jog on or off the field or even just how to make our different relationships survive. These are just a few examples out of countless numbers of opportunities for us to display effort.
Sometimes effort really sucks because you wish you could be the best at everything handed to you throughout life, but that’s what makes the world different. Right? Think about how boring the world would be if we were all perfect at everything; we would all be way too similar. Effort sucks because you can see your friend barely study for a test and get an A, but you studied for three days straight and only managed a D. You put in the effort…so why are the results not showing? I think we all believe this at one time or another. I wish I could pick up a paintbrush and draw a perfect self-portrait, but no matter how hard I work, I will never even be good at drawing a stick figure.
That sucks, but my plan in life isn’t to be an artist. This is the same way with athletes; some individuals are gifted with the ability to play sports while others are not. But in all of these aspects, you cannot control how good you are, but you can always control how much effort you put into the specific task. And this will show. People notice effort. If you sit in your teacher’s office hours, they know you’re putting effort into their class, even if you’re only averaging a D on every test or painting. The same with sports: your coach knows how hard you’re working to hopefully achieve a starting position. It’s all noticed. This will only help you throughout your entire life. Your effort may not be noticed now, but eventually, all of your effort will pay off, making you realize that you wouldn’t be where you are today if you hadn’t put the effort into everything you have in your life.
It’s so easy to say, “Just put effort into everything,” but seriously, do it. Remember that. Take full advantage of the things we can control during our lives, especially because there’s so much that happens during our lifetime that is completely out of our power.
