Effort

It was 1972 in Munich. A relatively unknown swimmer was poised at the edge of the pool awaiting the firing of the starting gun. It was his first time in the Olympics and he had made it to the finals. The gun sounded and he dived into the pool and swam with all his strength. Moments later he had won the gold medal and set a new world record at the same time. The next day he swam again, and again won another gold medal and, amazingly, he again won it in world record time. He swam seven races in Munich, won seven gold medals and, incredibly, established seven new world records. It was one of the greatest feats in Olympic history. The entire world suddenly knew the name of Mark Spitz.

But behind the glory was a dedication to training that had seen Mark swimming and lifting weights hour after hour, day after day, year after year, in preparation for the 1972 Olympics. His winning was not luck or chance but the end result of all the work he had put into his sport. He had the heart of a champion, and the dedication of one who knows what he wants and what he has to do to achieve it. Mark Spitz has said: “We all live to win, but how many people love to train?”

Source: John Kehoe, Mind Power, 1997, Canada, British Columbia: Zoetic Inc. Publishers, p.143-144

There is a story told of two friends, a chicken and a pig, out to try and make a difference in life. As they walked down the street they pass a café and in the window was a large sign that read, “HAM & EGGS £2.99”. The chicken turned to the pig and said, “Let’s go inside and make a contribution?” But the pig shook his head and replied, “It’s easy enough for you to make a contribution but not for me. I’d have to make a commitment.” – It’s the same when making an effort: Sometimes effort means more than just making a contribution; it means making a COMMITMENT.

I once heard about a young boy in Africa who gave a gift of a beautiful seashell to his missionary English teacher. The thing is, the only place to find the beautiful specimen was a full day and half’s trek to a secluded cove by the sea. The teacher was overwhelmed with the gift and said, “You shouldn’t have gone all that way just to give me a gift. The boy answered, “The long walk is also part of the gift!”

Niagara Falls on the borders of New York, in the United States and the province of Ontario in Canada, is one of the largest and most impressive waterfalls in the world. The sheer volume of water passing over the falls and the power generated from it is enormous. For example, every minute some 12 million cubic feet (340,000 cubic meters) of water pour over the falls. That’s enough to fill about 700 Olympic sized swimming pools or the equivalent to 379,000 tons of water every minute of every hour of every day. Such a vast amount of water generates enough power to accommodate, altogether, 6 hydroelectric plants, which produce some 3½ million kilowatts of electricity. Now, without question, that’s a great deal of power, but here’s my point: For all its beauty and impressiveness, Niagara Falls, in fact every waterfall, started out in life as a single drop of water! Think about it. A single drop of water mingles with another and another to form a small puddle or pool. The pool then converges with other pools and begins to trickle downhill as a tiny stream. Other streams then come together and form a river. Finally, as the river continues downhill towards the sea it combines with others and the end result is a massive expanse of water such as the Niagara River and falls. All this from single drops of water and relentless persistence. Likewise with you: No matter where you start from or however little you start with, providing you put in the effort and are heading in the right direction with relentless persistence, you too, over time, can and will achieve amazing and impressive results.

R. Ian Seymour

R. Ian Seymour, excerpt from Discover Your True Potential

If 99.9% effort is good enough then we would have…

One hour of unsafe drinking water every six weeks.

Two unsafe plane landings at Chicago’s O’Hare airport every day.

18,000 pieces of lost mail every hour.

22,000 payments deducted from the wrong bank account every week

500 incorrect surgical operations every week.

12 new-born babies given to the wrong parents every day.

20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions written each year.

880,000 credit cards in circulation with the wrong cardholder information on them.

Whatever it is you do, put your heart and soul into it and give it 100% effort.

Anon.

The following is an adaptation of Loren Eiseley’s ‘The Starfish Thrower’: One day a man was taking a stroll along a beach. As he’s walking along the man notices someone in the distance, keep bending down to pick something up and then, almost delicately, throwing it into the ocean. As he came closer the man saw thousands of starfish washed up by the high tide and now left stranded and dying on the beach. He observed a young man picking up the starfish and one by one tossing them gently back into the water. After watching this seemingly futile effort, the observer said, “Young man, I’m afraid you’re wasting your time. There are literally thousands of starfish washed up on this beach and for that matter, probably on every beach along this coastline. It would be impossible for you to save them all or even to make the slightest difference.” The young man smiled, but there was a determined look in his eye, as he bent down to pick up another starfish. Tossing it gently back into the ocean he turned to the older man and replied, “Well sir, it certainly made a difference to that one!”

R. Ian Seymour, excerpt adapted from Maximize Your Potential

Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit or 100 degrees centigrade. – At 211 degrees Fahrenheit; 99 degrees centigrade it’s just hot water but increase by one more degree, and the water boils and produces steam which has enough power to move a 30 tonne steam engine.

I heard this tale about an arrogant businessman man but it makes a good point:

A middle-aged, wealthy and successful company executive was carefully reversing his top-of-the-range Mercedes into a narrow parking space when, as if from out of nowhere, a young man in a clapped-out old Mini quickly nipped into the gap, beating the Mercedes by a whisker. Locking his car, the youth looked across at the man in the Mercedes and with a sarcastic grin shouted, “Sorry Granddad. The world belongs to the young and quick!” Without a word the businessman continued reversing, pushing the Mini sideways onto the pavement. He then got out, locked the Mercedes with a blip of his key-fob, turned towards the dumbfounded youth and handed him a business card. “No doubt your insurance company will be wanting to contact me,” he remarked calmly. “Oh, and you’re wrong, by the way. The world belongs to those who are willing to go the extra yard!”

R. Ian Seymour

R. Ian Seymour, excerpt adapted from Maximize Your Potential