True victory comes with effort
...tioned earlier, victory to someone who gave it their all and put a lot of effort into their success means much more than it does to someone who barely put any effort toward their goal. However, this goes much deeper than simply working hard to achieve success. Many times in the business world you will see plenty of successful associates that did not try their hardest and work to get to the place they are now. Success may come without effort but without effort, you will never know true success. The human mind is very primitive when it comes to attachment. The simple fact is that if you spend a lot of time focusing on one specific thing, your mind gets attached to it. When you work hard for something, the journey to reach your goal will often times be the best teacher as well as provide you with the most satisfaction. The achievement of your goal is often times secondary to your satisfaction of completing it to the best of your ability. However, your feelings about success can be changed according to the amount of effort that is expended. Let’s presume you have a huge math final tomorrow. Of course you want an “A” on it but you would rather be with your friends instead of studying. Your other friend is struggling in that class and he stays home all night studying because he really wants that “A“. You take the test and hope for the best. Your friend on the other hand, takes the test with confidence and leaves the class confident of his preparation and effort. The next day, you discover that you received a “C-” and your friend received a “B“. Of course, it doesn’t matter much to you because you never cared about the test anyway. While your friend didn’t get an “A”, he was pleased with his preparation and gave it his best effort. Roosevelt points out that the poor spirited man who doesn’t put forth effort neither enjoys much nor suffers much. He says that, “those people that live in the gray twilight know not of victory nor defeat. Nor of sorrow, nor of true love“. This part of the quote illustrates why it is good to put forth effort in every endeavor of life. The ratio between effort and reward is like climbing a mountain. The peak of the mountain being your goal and standing at the base and never attempting the climb, your failure. If you climb that mountain day and night and put forth maximum effort and eventually reach the summit, then you will know and experience the thrill of victory. However, if you never try, then you can’t even experience the agony of defeat. How pitifully boring and meaningless life would be without setting a goal and putting forth the effort to achieve it. Playing it safe may seem like a good plan for you because you might be trying to ...