Input or Outcome? What Matters to You?

Everything Is Easy With a Little Hard Work

I Must be Kidding Right?

Is this a play on an oxymoron or possibly a playful idiom?  Maybe it’s an attempt at starting a new colloquialism.

Well, maybe, but what I am attempting to say - is that if you want something to be easy, then work hard.  We want things to be as easy as possible - right?  Then why I am saying we must work hard for things to be easy?  Maybe I should elucidate with some examples.

• If you want a test to be easy, then study hard.
• If you want to win your athletic event, then train hard.
• If you want to speak easily in front of people and with enthusiasm, then practice hard. 

So...What Do I Mean?
Therefore, what this all means is: If you want your desired outcome to come easily then the input must be done with a concerted effort.  

Making Sense of This

Why does this make sense?  Why put in the effort at the beginning, or during the contribution phase?  Because this is where you have significantly more control.  You often can plan the means to a desired outcome the way you want, around your schedule, and in a timeframe you desire. 

Why Does This Matter?
Too often people wait until the event, the test, or the actual end of the planning period to start making an effort.  Then these same people complain that something is hard, resulting in them giving up, an inferior outcome, or even possibly preventing others from even attempting to do well. 

Even for the brightest and most talented, failure will be the outcome without the initial effort.  And, the phrase so often heard, "I'll do whatever it takes," when referring to achieving the desired goal is empirical evidence that the outcome is what really matters.

Example: Let’s say you want to get into medical school and need to take the MCAT.  You can likely designate the number of weeks you will study, the number of hours per day to study, and even pick the study tool. 

However, the exam is standardized, the amount of time you are allotted to take the test is fixed, and the testing location has limited options and availability.  Thusly, if you work hard the weeks before, then you can make the test easy - or at least easier.  You will not have any method to make the test easier without the initial hard work (i.e., longer testing time, simpler questions, more comfortable testing surroundings).  

Conclusion

Thereby, the conclusion is that every desired outcome can be attained with far more ease if you put in the initial hard work beforehand.

    

Enthusiastically scribbled by, 

Jason Riemens