Our outdated education system has always promoted the effort model. The more effort we put in the more successful we will become. This is true to a point but becomes meaningless beyond this point. The term” diminishing returns” comes to mind when examining effort as a concept.
Let me give you an example from the world of Tennis, a globally popular game which carries a great deal of playing as well as support interest. When a player takes her shot weather in a serve or in play she needs to apply some effort to get the ball over the net. However if she hits it too hard it will be out and she will lose the point. The physical effort has to be tempered with fitness and skill to ensure a good shot.
In the creative world it is the same. Most artistic painters will do many more paintings than those for which they are happy. Only a few will turn out to be masterpieces. The painter does not know when he starts if the painting is going to be successful or not.
If the painter now wants to sell his work he will need to apply effort into a whole new set of criteria. The effort in painting is transmuted into networking , marketing and establishing his name in an ever-increasing community.
My conclusion is that effort and hard work needs to be multifaceted. The successful person is the one who can move between one skill and another so the total effort expounded provides the optimum result.
Peter Bull ( Author of the books GET INTOUCH SERIES)