"Do work, son!" I have heard this statement spoken by countless people on countless occasions. There is something about humans that makes us want to constantly encourage our peers to work hard. But how often do you take time to evaluate your own work ethic? I have been trying to evaluate mine lately, and I have to admit I am disappointed in myself at times. But the key is to turn this disappointment into motivation to work harder. We all have to realize we will never be perfect. This is no reason to stop striving for excellence in everything that you do though. In the words of John Henry Newman, "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault." (Note: I really do not know much at all about Newman, I just enjoy reading all types of quotes.)
So, what does it mean to work hard? This is a difficult question to answer. In my opinion, the problem is that you never truly discover your full potential in life. There is not some kind of magic "work-o-meter" we can monitor to see whether or not we are giving a task everything we have to give. I am sure you can think of an example when you thought you were dealing with insurmountable obstacles but you somehow found a way to overcome them. Just when you thought you were down and out, you managed to achieve your goal. I am amazed by some of the stories I read about overcoming adversity.
Sometimes, it takes someone else to prove to us that we have the potential to work harder than we ever thought we could. Let me be the first to thank God for the amazing teachers, mentors, coaches, and friends who have been there to push me past my limits. I hope that I can be a motivator to the people around me in their times of need. The next time someone comes to you with a struggle, I want you to do something. Do not lie to them by telling them everything will work out fine, but try to see if they are really working to their full potential. If you believe they are not doing this, give them some extra motivation and let them know they can reach their goal.
I had a basketball coach who told me once that he wished he had a cattle prod so he could poke me with it to make me move a little faster. For the non-farmers out there, a cattle prod is a handheld device used to make cattle or livestock move by poking them. Most cattle prods produce an electric shock when they make contact with the livestock. My point is, I think there are times in our lives when we all need someone to be our cattle prod. I am speaking figuratively, of course. Please do not go out and start shocking your friends and family. And if you do decide to do that, you do not have my permission to tell them I advised you to do so.
I hope you understand that, in my opinion, humans need to be pushed past their limits at times to unlock their full potential. Now I would like to address one of the biggest problems we all have: laziness. For some reason or another, most of us act like we are allergic to working. Of course there are going to be times when fatigue sets in and we need to take a break from what we are trying to accomplish, but I am more concerned about the situations where we never seem to get started in the first place. No matter what you are trying to accomplish, the hardest part always seems to be getting started. So my advice is, if you define a goal, start working toward it as soon as you know exactly what it is that you want or need. Do not wait to get started; the longer you wait, the harder it becomes. Please take the initiative early and you will not regret it. I can tell you that, in my experiences, procrastination has been the biggest factor that has caused students I know to drop out of college. Please do not let it keep you from accomplishing your goals.
Now, what about "taking the easy way out"? We all know that person who will do anything and everything to find a way to come up with a shortcut in whatever they do. Do not get me wrong, I am all for working efficiently. You will never catch me taking a math test without my calculator. But there are some things that simply require you to take the long way around. I know people who spend more time trying to take the easy way out than they would have to spend to do the job right. They may not realize it, but they are working harder to cut corners than they would have to work to follow the normal routine. I tend to have trouble confronting people about this problem, but I am working to address it. I urge you to confront the people you know who have this problem. After all, you are helping them in the long run. Most importantly, if this paragraph describes the way you approach your goals, please realize that sometimes you just cannot take a shortcut. And, believe it or not, there is some inherent value in a job well done.
I hope this post has inspired you to evaluate your own work ethic and to motivate the people around you. I would like to finish by showing my appreciation to some very important people. I am thankful for the God-given talent I have in certain areas, but I am even more thankful for the people in my life who have instilled in me a good work ethic. So to my parents, grandparents, other family members, teachers, coaches, and other mentors, thank you for seeing the potential in me when I could not see it in myself. And thank you for pushing me to give my very best in whatever I decided to pursue. I appreciate you more than you know, and I hope you will continue to hold me and others to the high standards you know we are capable of achieving.
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