When some people hear the old adage of “You can do anything if you put your mind to it”, they tend to roll their eyes. Their usual response to that is coming up with an exaggerated example to counteract those claims.
If you’re four foot ten inches and weigh 90 pounds, no matter how much you put your mind to it they say, you won’t make it as an offensive lineman for the New England Patriots. Sure you can try to gain some weight they say, but no matter how hard you work, it won’t happen.
And as pessimistic as it sounds, they make a valid point.
They do bring up something that’s worth considering when they give these types of examples and that is simply this:
That there’s only so much effort that you can put into something.
But let’s look on the bright side of this fact. History has shown us that human potential is pretty darn big. We can do a lot of big things provided we put in a proportional big amount of effort, but as big as that potential is for effort, there is a limit as illustrated by these hyperboles.
So with this inevitable limit to effort that we have, what other factors can we put into the mix that will help us accomplish our respective objectives?
We have strengths and we have passion.
For the purpose of this article, strength refers to innate talent, things that come easily to you, that you naturally do better than other people and passion is just something that you’re very interested in, more so than the average person.
So let’s see how these three things intertwine and affect one another in a couple of scenarios.
The very first scenario we can explore is high strength, but minimal to average effort. For example, you can have someone who’s really strong in basketball (not physically, but skillfully), but he doesn’t put much effort into practicing it. Despite that fact, he will still perform better than the average person, simply because that’s his strength.
BUT, then you have someone who puts in a ton of effort into practicing basketball, but is not really strong (not physically, but skillfully) in playing it. This person will obviously not come out on top in the beginning as compared to the person in the previous paragraph, but given time, he will eventually come out on top, simply because his effort far surpasses that of the other person and that compounds exponentially.
However, if the person who is strong in basketball puts in the effort, and I mean really puts in the effort, then he goes on an entirely new level that most people with average strength coupled with monumental effort cannot attain.
This is important because it’s worthy to note that high effort CAN make up for strength, but for a person to put in both high strength and effort, it becomes very, very hard to catch up to that level.
What about passion? Where does passion fit into all this?
I left passion out because it’s closely related to effort.
We can split effort into two camps.
One camp is the gut wrenching, dig down deep, grit your teeth, work till you drop type effort.
Then you have passionate effort. It’s still hard to do, but there’s something different there driving you to push through it. Passion is a different type of fuel for effort, but it’s the good kind. It’s the natural kind of fuel.
Now if you can find something that incorporates your greatest strength and passion, and you give it your best effort possible, you’re at a very clear advantage as you’ve found your “sweet spot”, a place where you can leverage your full potential.
You’re utilizing your strengths.
You’re giving it your all.
And you’re passionate about it, which just naturally drives you even further.
The trouble is, these three aspects are rarely explored or developed by most people.
Not many people can clearly articulate what their strengths are.
Not many people, as a result of not experiencing true adversity, haven’t developed that dig down deep, grit your teeth, work till you drop type habit of effort, so when the time comes when it’s needed, they don’t have what it takes to go those extra inches.
And not many people know what they’re passionate about.
The result is that people have this goldmine of potential within themselves, but they can’t clearly see the roadmap to it.
If you look at most of the inspirational stories out there, it may seem like all of them are the “low strength, but high effort and passion” type stories, in short, the stories of the underdog.
They weren’t as big.
They weren’t as strong.
They weren’t as skillful.
They weren’t as good looking.
But what they lacked in strength (I use that in the broadest sense of the word), they more than made up for in passion and effort.
These stories bring up a great point in that passion and effort count, and they can help overcome the odds, but as great as these stories are, they can be misleading in the fact that we might think that the focus should solely lie on effort and passion, but we forget that incorporating our strengths can bring everything to a whole new level, not to mention make everything easier.
For example, let’s say your passion lies with cancer. You’re a survivor and you want to help spread the word and give hope to others. You could give speeches at events. That’s one way to do it. You’re definitely passionate about the subject and you put in a ton of effort to prepare your speeches and get your message across and you’ll probably make an impact.
But will you make as big of an impact as somebody who’s naturally gifted at speaking, who puts in that same effort as you did and is just as passionate about cancer as you are?
Probably not. I know that’s not very encouraging to hear, but it’s something worth considering.
But let’s take a look at your strengths. What if your strengths lie with organization. Planning. Getting things done. Coordinating. Working with people.
What if instead of giving speeches, maybe you were in charge of fund raising events or setting up cancer awareness campaigns? If so, wouldn’t you agree that you would probably do a whole lot better in this area should you choose to do so?
Now I’m not saying you should automatically do something just because that’s where your strengths lie. The choices you make are obviously entirely up to you.
All I’m saying is that all things equal, you will probably be most effective when you can utilize your strengths and have that aligned with your passion along with a ton of effort to go with that as well.
I think if you begin to look at some famous people, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, and you read about them, you’ll see this three way intersection come into play. They leveraged their strengths with their passions and put in a ton of effort along the way, and it became the perfect combination for them.
Some people don’t utilize their strengths. But they have the passion and the effort and that does make up for it, but up to a certain point. It can be enough sometimes. Sometimes it can’t.
Some do utilize their strengths, but don’t put in the effort so they are still effective, but not as effective as they can be.
Some utilize their strengths, but not with their passion, but they do put in a ton of effort, and that can take them far as well, but not as far as if they were passionate about what they were doing.
You can slice it up anyway you want, but the fact remains, if you can incorporate all three, your strengths, passion, and big effort, you’ve found a great sweet spot for yourself.
If you’re already found it and you’re doing it, great. Keep going.
If you haven’t, see where you might need to spend a little more attention and act accordingly.
Not sure what your strengths are? Ask others. Do a personal inventory. Think back through your life. Look at the intangibles. Don’t assume it has to be something physical or something that people can see. It can very well be a mental thing.
Not sure if you can go the distance and put in the big effort? Start doing physical training. Run miles. Lift weights. Push yourself physically and mentally. Test yourself. Develop your willpower and self control.
Not sure what you’re passionate about? Look at what you spend most of your free time doing. What do you hold onto at home? What would you talk about for hours on end?
Again, it’s important to realize that effort and passion count for a lot, and in most cases, can make up for a lack of strengths.
BUT, there is a limit to that effort and all things equal, if you can leverage your strengths and align them with your passion and put in a ton of effort with that as well, you can take yourself to an entirely new level you never thought was possible.
