EXTRA EFFORT? WHO’S THE JUDGE

 

There you are doing your best, trying your hardest, and a voice in your head says, ‘You’d do better with a little extra effort.’

If you’ve heard it, do you know where it come from?

A coach, a teacher, a parent.

“You could be somebody if you actually applied yourself.”

Looking back it’s funny to think teachers and coaches remember us the way we remember them.

We were on the team, in the classroom, for three years of high school with people who’d seen a bunch of kids before and a bunch after, but we were special to them?

They knew us better than we knew ourselves?

Coaches in high school have seen and heard the big talkers, the self-proclaimed all-stars, the sure things.

They’ve seen them sparkle and fade over and over. Seen it, heard it.

There’s the basketball player practicing his cross-overs and free throws.

There’s the football player lifting weights and doing sprints.

The coach tries to help them understand the ‘team concept’ but it’s not sticking.

Basketball Jimmy won’t pass the ball; Football Frank can’t tell left from right.

And it’s all the coach’s fault.

So the coach talks to other teachers and learns some of his guys aren’t getting their work done there, either.

 

Show Extra Effort

Learning about extra effort early sets the tone for the rest of your life.

Pass the ball, share the ball, keep moving. That’s the basketball goal. When you’re open, shoot.

Football guy needs to tie a yellow ribbon on his left wrist so when the quarterback calls a play and adds yellow he’ll know which way to go.

That’s how a team is supposed to work, and why sports are such an important launching point for kids.

They learn how to be on time and on schedule; they learn how to cooperate with others; and if they’re lucky they learn to win with grace and accept defeat with good sportsmanship.

But that’s not how it always works out.

Some guys insist that they would have been something if the coach had liked them, if the coach did’t play his son instead or them, if the coach put them in the game for more playing time.

It’s never them. Forget about missing practices, flunking classes, and staying up so late they walk through the next day like a zombie.

Yeah, buddy, you were all that and somehow you didn’t get your varsity letter and you’ve been bitter ever since.

Is there a way to change things up?

Sure, but you know the drill. Change takes extra effort.

If you are naturally bashful and shy, work to change by snagging a street performers guitar in Paris and sing a song.

Oo la la. Go, player, go.

 

Good Effort vs Extra Effort

Defeat has a million relatives who chime in with the usual shit-talk.

“You’re  loser.”

“You never win.”

“Why didn’t you try harder?”

Victory is quiet, or should be, the secret going unsaid with, ‘Fuck you for thinking I couldn’t win.’

Call it a chip on the shoulder.

Guys carrying that around do shocking things.

The last player chosen in the NFL draft, Mr. Irrelevant, named so because one team had to pick last and there they were, turns into a starter on a Super Bowl team that loses in overtime instead of quitting and coaching high school football?

Talk about a fairy tale.

Then there’s the blogger who toils for years unrecognized, but their effort remains unwaning blog post after post, day after day.

There’s a name for those kind of people, but I forget.

They take quiet pride in their production, motivation, and problem solving.

Why? Because that’s what it takes to join the writer ranks. You need to write.

On twitter it’s more than the writing. You also need to talk writing incessantly.

They call it marketing, or personal branding, or a mental health issue. One of the three.

The key element here is believing in extra effort, in doing the work, in making the time.

But it’s not just time to write, it’s making the time to read, because the experts say if you don’t have time to read, you won’t be a good author.

And who doesn’t want to be a good author?

What’s the time limit for extra effort? Unlimited.

Keep pulling that oar.