Effort is a tricky thing. It is very easy to excuse yourself, to talk yourself into believing you have put out quite a bit of effort when you haven’t.

I notice often that people have stock replies to certain situations such as ‘oh, that gives me a headache’ when they don’t really have a headache, they just don’t happen to like a certain sound. Another example is ‘I am completely exhausted’ when in fact they aren’t exhausted, they are just a little tired. Perhaps you have said ‘I have worked all day in the garden’ when actually you worked an hour and a half.

We all know these are just examples of hyperbole or exaggeration. But the danger with exaggeration is you start to believe it is true and you excuse yourself as a result.

You want to achieve something? Be honest about how much effort you are actually putting out. Work hard, keep going, be tenacious, finish strong and go beyond what you expect of yourself when you say those cliche things in your head.

Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman

“Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out if they’ve got a second.” – William James, 1842-1910, American Philosopher and Psychologist