For the most part, as a species I believe that we have become lazy. We have invented technologies, communication platforms, and many other things mainly as a way to expend less effort and produce the same result. As a blogger and a general early adopter of new technology, I think that it’s not necessarily a bad thing; efficiency is always good.
The problem is that this idea has permeated so many other areas of our lives. When you see things like diet pills, get rich quick schemes, and other things of this sort, it’s easy to make the assessment that people don’t want to put in effort. One could argue that taking short cuts has hurt the world’s economy; we want things now and are willing to make concessions and take unprecedented risks in order to get them. The outcome of these decisions and shortcuts is often dire or at least counter-productive.
Minimal effort will always yield minimal results. Conversely, maximum effort might not always yield maximum results. So where is the balance? Perhaps we could agree that in most areas, the slightest bit of increased effort could make a huge difference in your results. Let’s take a look at some examples.
7 Ways a Slight Extra Effort will Change Your Life
- Catching Waves
By now if you’ve read any of my previous posts here you know that most of my inspiration comes from my time in the water. In fact, the idea for this post came from catching a wave. Over the last two days I learned that sometimes just two extra paddles will make the difference between catching the wave and not catching it. The funny thing is it is a very slight effort that results in a huge difference.
- Exercise
Exercise in general is something that most people struggle with. Let’s face it, running on a treadmill at a gym is not exciting and sometimes it feels like time is standing still. While you think that an extra 10 minutes every time you work out won’t make any difference, I want you to consider this. Assuming you work out 5 days a week, 10 minutes each day added up over a year is 2,600 extra minutes and however many extra calories burned. Slight effort adds up over the long term. If you use the long term perspective for that slight effort then you will find more motivation to put in that extra effort.
- Weight Loss
I’ve never been overweight and don’t claim to be an expert on weight loss. Some people have conditions that make it challenging and I want to be sensitive to that. But, if you want a simple weight loss formula, I’ll give it to you. Eat less and exercise more. Eating less might be something you have to work on gradually. But if you make a slight effort on a consistent basis to eat less, eventually you’ll develop the habit.
- Blogging
One thing I notice about many early stage bloggers is that they don’t post often enough. Some people get ahead and don’t stay hungry. One extra post a week over the course of a year is 52 pieces of content that you didn’t have before you put in that extra effort to write one extra post.
- Entrepreneurship/Careers
If you are an entrepreneur of any sort, even a half an hour extra a day doing something to add value to your business could make a huge difference. You could attend a networking event or make a new online connection. It really doesn’t take much. From a career standpoint, learn what skills you can develop to elevate you further than you are today and dedicate a bit of time to it each day.
- Academics
In a home study course by Jack Canfield I heard the difference between a 3.0 student in college and a 4.0 student in college came down to one simple difference. The 4.0 student reviewed his or her notes from class every night before going to sleep. Reviewing notes from an hour long lecture, if you are doing it every day shouldn’t take more than about 15 minutes. If you have 4 classes, an extra hour a day is all the difference is between a 4.0 student and a 3.0 student.
- Saving Money
I’m definitely guilty of not optimizing my spending habits. I’ve burned through cash at record rates and my dad once said I should have been born in Donald Trump’s family. If I had spent one year saving money, then the pay off would have come the next year in terms of interest, stability and the opportunity to enjoy my money a bit more. The extra effort of saving a 100-200 dollars a month for 1 year will make a huge difference the next year.
The point you should take away from this is that the slightest extra effort will make a difference when you look at it from a long term perspective.