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The value of effort in a culture of instant gratification.

What we see all around us, flashing in media headlines and on our Instagram feeds, is dramatic fame and achievement with seemingly minimum effort.  It's infiltrated our approach to just about everything - from quick fix diets to overnight business success. This type of achievement is slippery, usually intangible, or at best, very fragile.  Unless our progress and achievement is built on a solid foundation of effort, it can crack and crumble with the mere hint of doubt.

We live in a culture where almost everything we do on a day-to-day basis garners instant gratification. The lottery is built on this desire for us to get big things with little effort. The reality is that the effort we put in matters. There is reward in working hard for something. In this moment today, tomorrow and for the future we are building. What we get out of our experience of life is often a direct reflection of the type of effort we put into it.

The truly great successes in our lives - the ones that are momentous, celebratory, monumental, game changing and most rewarding - come as a result of the effort we put in. With constant pressure and doubts, it’s easy to feel as though we’re not good enough. Not as good as our fellow classmates, colleagues at work, family members or friends. And in the midst of just wanting to be better, we can often forget how much hard work really matters.

Hard work is a lot more than people often perceive it to be. It shows concern, compassion, perseverance and potential, regardless of what results from that. We toss the value of effort and hard work aside, thinking it doesn’t matter if we don’t get exactly what we wanted in result. However, sometimes, in the midst of working hard, losing hope then finding our way, we stumble upon lessons and experiences that we didn’t even know we wanted; lessons and experiences that make us grow as people.

Though marks sometimes reflect hard work (you did get a 9.5/10 on that essay you spent so much time on!), they should never be viewed as the only measure of ability, nor should they dictate the feelings you have about yourself and your work. If you poured your heart out into a project at work or prepared to the best of your ability for the FCE mid-course exam, your mark doesn’t change any of that. The girl who “didn’t even try” may have scored better than you did, but what does that mean?

The words “I didn’t even try” diminish the importance of effort and hard work. They make it seem as though people only strive for the image, reputation or credit something gives them, rather than the knowledge, experience, or strength.

Taking risks, daring to do something different from what everyone else is doing and trying should mean more than its outcome. Trying means allowing yourself to lose sometimes and overcome your weaknesses to let your passions guide you and use your strengths in a way that means something to you.

And of course, trying doesn’t always mean instant success. It doesn’t always mean 100% on exams or perfect feedback on a job you’ve done. But it does mean that you cared, believed, and pursued something that may have challenged or scared you a little. It means that you’re on your way to where you want to be, even if you don’t know exactly where that is.