Levels of Effort

The Effort Scale

All too often we lose sight of the possibilities that are right in front of us. We spend so much time thinking about issues, challenges, and questions, in order words things we "can't do," that we seldom view our options, or things that we "can do." One of the things that we have at our disposal at any point in time is our effort.  But how often are we fully aware of how much effort we are exerting, or could potentially put forth? Prolific author Stephen King once wrote that “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”  

But how much effort does one need to accomplish a goal that requires hard work? The answer to that question, of course, depends on the situation.  Rest assured that the degree of effort required is generally associated with the level of difficulty to answer the question.  In short, easy questions require little effort.  More difficult questions require a significant amount of effort. An illustration such as the Effort Scale explains that your level of energy spans the spectrum from effortless on one end to maximum effort on the other. Anything we do in life has a level of effort associated with it.  

In the adjacent video interview with successful entrepreneur and business mogul Mark Cuban, he believes that "The one constant you have control over is effort."  Despite all of the distractions around you, the one constant you have control over is your effort.  When large issues cloud your vision it is easy to forget that effort is still within your potential.  Directly linked to your level of effort is your physical and cerebral energy.  If you are physically or mentally drained from some other situation that will have a negative impact on your level of energy.  For example, if the situation requires you to put forth levels of very hard, extremely hard, or maximum strength effort, and you failed to get enough sleep the night before, it will be difficult, if not impossible to move forward with the requisite level of effort.   Additionally, if you are constantly reminding yourself of something that happened in the past, a situation that you have no control over, then such mental preoccupation can also have a negative impact on your ability to apply the level of effort required.
 

The application and management of effort is also directly related to your ability to maximize opportunities.  Do you understand the relationship between your level of effort and personal or professional opportunities.   Inventor Thomas Edison understood that "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."  Work takes effort.  To identify opportunities one needs to be prepared and work as hard as possible.  Generating high degrees of effort will often result in creating more opportunities.  It is also important to realize that the harder the work generally the more effort required.   To identify and take advantages of opportunities though, you must maintain a high level of effort.  If your level of energy is at the low end of the spectrum, where you put almost no effort, very light, or light amounts of effort, then it will be very challenging to successfully navigate opportunities.

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Questions to Consider:

• Are you aware of the level of effort you are exerting compared to what is required of a specific situation?
• What are you doing to maintain a high level of energy in order to apply the level of effort required in a specific situation?
• How do you define hard work? Do you agree with author Stephen King that “what separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work?”
• Do you believe, as Mark Cuban observed, that “the one constant you have control over is effort?"
• Reflecting upon your life, have you noticed that you failed to identify or take advantage of an opportunity because your level of effort was too low?

The Invisible Bicycle Helmet video

Dietrich Mateschitz

American boxer Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.) once said "“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”

The life of Dietrich Mateschitz exemplifies Ali's quote. Born to school

teachers in Austria in 1944, his parents divorced when he was young. After taking ten years to graduate Vienna University of Economics, Mateschitz went to work for Unilver marketing detergents. He subsequently moved to Blendax, the German cosmetics company where he worked on the marketing of Blendax toothpaste.

In 1982, as a 36 year-old toothpaste marketer who suffered from jet lag in Thailand, Mateschitz discovered a local drink Krating Daeng (Red Bull). Krating Daeng is a non-carbonated energy drink popular in Thailand, based on the Japanese energy drink Lipovitan, and South Korea's Bacchus-F, which were imported into the country. Its ingredients include water, cane sugar, caffeine, taurine, inositol and B-vitamins. In addition to Krating Daeng being a jet lag treatment, it was also prized by locals for its ability to increase physical endurance and mental concentration, making it popular with laborers and long-distance truck drivers.

As a marketer Mateschitz believed it had a global appeal and started negotiations with Chaleo Yoovidya, president of Krating Daeng’s manufacturer TC Pharmaceuticals. In 1984 the two founded a new company - Red Bull GmbH.

Before launching, Mateschitz hired a market research firm to test Red Bull's acceptance. The result was a catastrophe. "People didn't believe the taste, the logo, the brand name," he recalls now with a smile. "I'd never before experienced such a disaster." Despite being told it was impossible to sell Red Bull as he envisioned, he ignored the recommendations, and went on with his project. 

In 1987 the first can of Red Bull went on sale in Austria. The main difference in the European and global formulation is that unlike it Thai forerunner, it is carbonated and contains the amino acid taurine. Two years later Red Bull went on sale in Hungary and Slovenia

To help market Red Bull, Mateschitz came up with the idea of a “Flugtag” (air show) in 1991. With Red Bull enthusiasts demonstrating their innovative, yet not always successful, attempts at flying, the tag line "It gives you wings," eventually helped Red Bull spread around the globe.

In 1997 Red Bull entered the U.S. market. Whether it's by sponsored air races, helicopters or extreme sports, Red Bull's brand has become synonymous with going big and going fast. Red Bull's brand message has been received well by young consumers around the world, promising that if you drink Red Bull, you'll be seen as a self-confident, unpredictable, edgy non-conformist. You become part of the "counterculture."

As of 2012 was selling sells upwards of 4 billion cans each year and dominates its main competitors Monster and Rockstar with a 40 percent market share. Red Bull now has a presence in more than 160 countries around the world and it employs around 8,000

And the one who was told it was impossible to sell Red Bull around the globe...yea has an estimated net worth of $5 billion. Not bad for someone who started out selling toothpaste, ignored the experts, and figured out a way to launch a global brand.

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Questions:

• Has anyone ever told you something you wanted to do was impossible?  If so, how did you respond?
• Why do you think some people tell others that something is impossible?
• Have you ever told someone that what they wanted to do was impossible?  If so, why?
• What lessons can you apply from Mateschitz's story to your own life?

Resources:

• Kirn Bhasin, “How Dietrich Mateschitz Ignored The Haters And Created The Top Energy Drink On The Planet,” Business Insider, February 15, 2012.
• Ty Montague, How to Combine Story and Action to Transform Your  Business (2013) 
• Dietrich Mateschitz, Wikipedia

Paulo Coelho

“One day, you will wake up and there won’t be any more time, to do things you’ve always wanted. Do It Now!” It took him 40 years to write his first book and to "do what he always wanted to do," but best selling Brazilian author Paulo Coelho lived the quote he preached. 

Perhaps one of the most well known authors of his generation, Paulo Coelho wrote his first book at 40 years of age. Coelho has published 30 books. Sold more than 150 million books in over 150 countries and his works have been translated into 80 languages. He is one of the best selling Portuguese language authors.

1947 August 24 born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

1963-1967 Sent to asylum three times (16-20 years of age) and released in 1967

1967-1968 went to law school but dropped out to become a hippy traveling through South America, North Africa, Mexico and Europe

Late 1960s-1970s - wrote lyrics for Raul Seixas, the Brazilian rock star

1974 – arrested for “subversive” activities by the ruling militia (bundled into a car, taken to a secret headquarters, and tortured with electric shock to his genitals) Joined Alternative Society, an organization that defended the individual’s right to free expression and began publishing a series of comic strips calling for more freedom.

1970s-1980s – worked as an actor, journalist, and theatre director before pursuing his writing career Between 1972 and 1982, Coelho penned scores of tunes -- with Seixas and other Brazilian singers -- and made tons of money.  Hoping for some normalcy in his life, he went to work for Polygram record company. And he met the woman who became his first wife. They moved to London in 1977, but Coelho was unhappy and wanted to write again. He went back to Brazil and they divorced. He married twice more before settling down with an old friend, Christina Oiticica . "She is my fourth wife," he says, "and last."

1982 – published his first book, Hell Archives – low sales

In 1982, Coelho and Oiticica visited Germany. While touring the concentration camp at Dachau, Coelho had a vision. He says a man appeared to him. A few weeks later, Coelho ran into the ghostly man again at a cafe in Amsterdam. "You must close the circle," the man said crypto-mystically. "You will see the image of God in everything from now on." The man instructed Coelho to rediscover Catholicism and to take the pilgrim's walk on the road to Santiago, between France and Spain.

1986 – at 39 years of age walked the 500 mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain – the turning point in his life. Also known as The Way of St. James - one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times, together with Rome and Jerusalem, and a pilgrimage route on which a plenary indulgence could be earned

1987 – at 40 years of age published The Alchemist through a small Brazilian publishing house who made an initial print run of 900 copies and decided not to reprint. He found a bigger publishing house, and with the publication of his next book Brida, The Alchemist became a Brazilian bestseller. 

1990s - The Alchemist attracted little attention at first until a French language translation suddenly leaped onto the bestseller lists in France.  New translations followed and The Alchemist became a worldwide bestseller.

Early 2000s – upended the publishing industry by pirating his own work and made it available online in countries where it was not easily found, using the argument that ideas should be disseminated free.

Quotes from The Alchemist:

• “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
• “It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”
• “People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.”
• “I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living now.”
• “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
• “When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too."
• “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams.”
• “There is only one way to learn. It’s through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey.”
• “What is the world’s greatest lie?” the little boy asks. The old man replies, “It’s this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.”
• “The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.”
• “Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”
• “The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve on the present, what comes later will also be better.”

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Questions:

• Coelho took 40 years to write his first book.  This is a good reminder that age is not a factor and that you can start to translate your dream into reality anytime.  Are you waiting for that perfect time to pursue your dream?  How long will you wait?  Why are you waiting?
• The fear of failure paralyzes many people into inaction.  Does fear stop you from trying new things?
• Coelho persevered through tremendously difficult situations when he was young but it did not stop him from achieving his dream.  What difficult situations have you faced?  Are they holding you back from moving forward?

Resources:

• Julie Bosman, "Best Selling Author Gives Away His Work," The New York Times, September 26, 2011. 
• Elizabeth Day, "A Mystery Even to Himself," The Telegraph, June 13, 2005.
• Paulo Coelho, Wikipedia
• Paulo Coelho, Biography

Why Were You Born?

Mark Twain noted that "The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the

day you find out why." The sad reality is that too many people fail to realize this. 

Getting caught up in the routine of life, blaming others for their situation, or working at a miserable job blind people to the real pursuit of finding out why they were born. 

This takes tremendous effort. Living a life without purpose is exhausting.  Understanding that is critical to figuring out why you were born.

Navigating life while discovering one's purpose for being born is perhaps the most difficult of tasks. But it is certainly one of the most valuable. 

Questions to Consider:

• How much energy do you spend on finding out why you were born?
• What have you done lately to help yourself understand why you were born?
• It's not too late to identify your purpose.  Do you agree?

John Gardner

"The luckiest people are those who learn early…that it’s essential to take charge of your own life. That doesn’t mean you don’t accept help, friendship, love, and leadership – if it’s good leadership – from others. But it does mean recognizing that ultimately you’re the one who is responsible for you. No excuses. Don’t blame others. Don’t blame circumstances. You take charge. And one of the things you take charge of is your own learning. Life is an endless unfolding, and if we wish it to be, an endless process of self-discovery, an endless and unpredictable dialogue between our potentialities and the life situations in which we find ourselves." John Gardner

Gratitude

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” Albert Schweitzer lived a life helping others understand the possibilities before them. Such opportunities are often the result of a spark ignited within us by a person we know or someone we briefly encounter along life’s journey. There is a responsibility to not only recognize when we need a spark but to also serve as one to others. Do you possess the self-awareness to recognize when your light has been extinguished? Have you been grateful to those who have rekindled your flame? I wish you well as you keep the light of life burning for yourself and for others.  Namaste