Is it trying hard?

Is it showing up?

Is it doing the heavy lifting?

Is it sweating?

I’d argue that it is none of that. The above represents a type of effort that is often celebrated, maybe because it reminds us of hard labor. The perceived idea is that people who provide that type of effort will succeed based on the tough work or long hours of work, both of which require an exceptional physique.

Putting in a lot of effort has thus been the metaphor for doing the right thing and being capable of succeeding.

But while this type of hard work may be part of being successful, the real effort, to me, is something different. It is knowing what one seeks to achieve and regularly stepping out of one’s comfort zone to reach the next milestone.

What’s extraordinary here is that once one gets used to that kind of effort, there is not much hard work left. There is a sense of what effort is useful and the right thing to do. And when it is there, much of the work we do can become effortless.

Not because one doesn’t need to make any effort anymore, but because such efforts fulfill a purpose one is committed to. Being driven by being committed becomes what enables leaders and helps them stick to their vision.

There is no statistic available allowing us to measure how many of those putting in a lot of exhausting work succeed, which makes it easy to keep the myth of effort alive.