A nicely quotable bit of wisdom, but it's only true in binary outcomes, such as Pass/Fail, or Win/Lose. Only a portion of what we do, when broken way down, comes to a binary outcome. Thankfully, the rest of the world measures degree of effort/success. That is what I want to address today: How hard are you willing to try at something?
For me, if it's something that I can compete at, my philosophy is: I will try harder than you. You may beat me with natural talent, better skill, or whatever, but I will try harder than you. I know that regardless of outcome, I did everything I knew how to do to accomplish the task including asking for help. For example: in one of my math classes in college, I literally got another corresponding textbook and did all homework problems from both it and the class's textbook to ensure I got a good grade. Another: yesterday at work was an over-lunch meeting, which I attended and watched everyone eat pizza knowing that my food was waiting for me in the fridge. I happened to be sitting next to one of the people that complained about how easy it is for me to lose weight compared to her. She had pizza...and complimented my diligence.
The majority of my dieting/getting fit experience has been a test of how hard I am willing to try. Am I willing to barely finish my cardio every single time thanks to increasing the resistance/speed/etc.? Am I willing to stretch for 20 minutes after workout? Am I willing to workout even if I'm tired? As it turns out, yes. It's absolutely exhausting, painful, blister-inducing, and working. It's working without the need for "miracle" pills, trendy diets, or more elaborate means. It's working and satisfying because I know my efforts have led to this success.
Of course, sometimes efforts fail, even when you try your hardest. If you're willing to try your best, you have to accept that sometimes it is just not meant to be and learn from it. I learned in school that my future will never be in algorithm research and development. I studied, I read, I did the homework, but no matter what I did, I just couldn't wrap my head around it. I did "so well" at it I got the unfortunate honor of repeating the class. I kept trying; I passed the class; but did not further pursue algorithms in my course work. I learned one of my limitations, so all that effort was not wasted. It just pointed me in a different direction.
Lastly, if you're not willing to try hard, then accept that diminished effort for what it is. Only lament a failure for the fact that you weren't willing to try, not because you failed at it. That's a lesson I have to relearn from time to time. Did I try my best at X? No? Then how can I justify being upset by it? So then I get to explore the wildly more informative question: Why didn't I try my best? Oh, Mr. Achilles Heel. Nice to see you again. Why am I always surprised when you show up?
Next time you think about what you want to accomplish, ask yourself how hard are you willing to try to do it?
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