Saturday, September 11, 1999

Extra effort

Doing enough to just get by will get you more than ninety-five percent of the way to true greatness. If you’re managing to just get by, the extra effort needed to reach the next level is not really that much by comparison. Even so, very few people ever bother to make that effort.

The reason has more to do with attitude than with skill or ability. We often have this strange notion that effort is undesirable and to be avoided whenever possible. So most of us naturally put forth the minimum required effort, and constantly struggle to merely remain average. But give just a little bit more to the effort, and suddenly you stand out as an exceptional achiever.

If you’re just getting by, you’re practically there. It would be a shame not to go the rest of the way. You’re closer to greatness than you might think. All it takes is the willingness to go just a little bit farther, to work a little bit smarter, to put in a little bit more effort.

A small, incremental extra effort can make a big, big difference. When you’ve already invested your effort, you might as well take full advantage of the valuable momentum you’ve created. Give a little extra and it will bring big rewards.

— Ralph Marston

Sustained effort       Your actions

Copyright ©1999 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All Rights Reserved. The Daily Motivator is provided for your personal, non-commercial use only. Other than personal sharing, please do not re-distribute without permission.