Is Effort A Myth?
I wanted to share this well written article by one of my favorite authors Seth Godin. He eloquently writes about why we easily fixated on getting lucky and path of personal effort.
It seems that the bigger the hole we dug for ourselves or the larger the distance we need to travel to reach a goal the more we tend to wallow in hope. I think this is partly because it becomes harder to tie the small actions we can do now with so huge checkpoint in the future. So instead of action, we grind ourselves into inaction and wait for Ed McMahon. That, and luck is a lot easier!
Here is how Seth puts it:
And that’s the key to the paradox of effort: While luck may be more appealing than effort, you don’t get to choose luck. Effort, on the other hand, is totally available, all the time.
So now let’s get out there and put in some well focused extra effort and check back in a few weeks and see were it has taken us. I don’t think we will regret it and even if we do it is quite easy to return to watching a couple of hours of TV a night.
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An excellent insight into the human condition, namely, a person’s wont toward impatience. Why spend the next two years saving up a down payment when you can get a crappy mortgage now?
@Ray – We are actually in the process of saving for the full 20% down, so I hear you and raise you one. Why spend two years savings for a down payment when you can have a crappy mortgage now and the government will bail you out if it turns out to be a big mistake and enough people do the same.
The deeper the hole, the taller the skyscraper.
One of the most important lessons I ever learned was that I will get out of life what I put into it.
There is a reason why all the wealthy people talk about having discipline. It takes discipline to do something day in and day out and not see immediate results, but trusting that the results will show up in the long run. That takes effort, and commitment.