<5> TSE 1
11/16/23
Effort
Nowadays, wife and I mostly argue (OK, let’s use a gentler word, “discuss”) about kids (as we are way past the phase of discussing about our irreconcilable differences 😊). About what they do, why they do, how they do, all the 6 W’s and in different combinations. In a recent one of these discussions, she pointed out that I have the tendency of putting “100” efforts when only about “10” are required. I forget what it was about but probably around doing one’s best or something.
She’s right, I do have the mentality of “going to the ends of the earth”. It certainly helped me a lot (putting the extra hours, going the extra miles, eating extra vegetables… ha), especially in early years (school, career, and even relationships). And certainly, some efforts were unnecessary (think about all those one-pagers, briefs, and pitchbooks to nowhere?) Anyways, this notion of Effort is something I’ve been thinking a lot about along with T and S.
When I think about “effort”, it’s always been what I do and how I do (e.g., methods) and I have rarely thought about the very notion of “effort” itself. But now with this ‘100 vs. 10’ comment, I’ve been thinking a bit deeper about things. Maybe quality of my life can improve as a result (of doing 10 when 10 is required)? Well, having lived almost 50 years, I doubt I can change myself overnight but nonetheless, it’s a worthwhile thinking exercise.
How about you? How would you rate yourself on “effort” spectrum? Are you also a 100 all-the-time only when only a 10 is needed? How about methods? Are you making qualitative jumps in how you do things?
Coming up… TSE 2 - Sequence and TSE 3 - Timing…