Genius and Effort📈✔

A new perspective on effort

Sunday, March 2

Silence in the room

“Inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work.”
— Chuck Close

It’s a regular weekend; you get up and plan to get so much done today. Everything is set. There is no music, no motivation, nobody but only you and your mind. Considering that you have access to a device while studying, you always have a choice. Either to get distracted and feel that same feeling of failure like always, or roll up your sleeves, grab that copy like it owes you money, and get shit done.

This is where all the romantic words of character, mindset, and identity come into play. When there is no one to keep yourself responsible but yourself. I’ve always thought and waited for that Eureka! moment, where everything clicks and you become great overnight. But as it turns out, real life is much more simple and painful.

The book ‘Mindset’ by Carol Dweck really opened my eyes to how effort really works. Turns out, geniuses aren’t born with innate talent. They are made. Sure, some get lucky enough and have the privilege of understanding tough concepts quicker than the rest of us, but the effort rule applies to everybody.

Exceptional things require exceptional effort. Period. There is no WOW moment every day. Let’s take Newton, for example. We get told that an apple dropped on his head; he questioned why, and boom! laws of gravitation and gravity and other discoveries of his are published in our books. But that ‘apple dropped, became amazing’ sentence does not portray what actually made Newton such an important figure in science. He had countless unseen and silent failures while trying to figure out calculus and other of his feats. In short, it required effort—effort that we all dread when the rubber meets the road. Without such monotonous effort and perseverance, Newton would just be a curious poor farmer in England.

The reason I went on that Newton rant was to show you that seeing effort as a solution to you not being gifted is making your procrastination even worse. It’s putting a vote towards the “I’m dumb” ballot when really effort should put a vote on the “I’m growing and learning.” side. Yes, gifted people exist, but effort and time are the common elements that promote growth and learning on both sides of the spectrum.

And all of that starts with a choice. To roll up your sleeves now, or cry about it at night.