You can give your best effort and come up short. We must acknowledge that out loud, not just theoretically. Even world-class effort cannot guarantee a specific result you want, no matter how hard you try.
Giving your best effort and coming up short does not mean your effort was misspent. It does not mean you wasted it. It does not mean you should stop giving that kind of effort in the future, though you will face that temptation and entertain those thoughts.
Your best effort is necessary. You do not save yourself by withholding it. You abandon yourself. Though failure is always a risk, give your best effort again and again and again. That effort--the effort only you can give-- is the fuel required for all your unfulfilled ambitions.
If you are unwilling to put that effort into the mission and objectives in front of you, then change course.
Find objectives worth pursuing that are worthy of your best effort.
Brick by brick. Do the work.
ONE FINAL THOUGHT:
THE LATIN PHRASE IN THE SUBJECT LINE
“Palma non sine pulvere” is Latin for “No reward without effort”. The literal translation is “No palm without dust”. A palm branch was the symbol of triumph and reward for victory in ancient times. Dust was the product work labor. No palm without dust meant no victory without work. No reward without effort.
There is effort without reward* but no reward without effort.
* at least not the reward we had in mind
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