• Steven Frank
• Business
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It Starts with Effort

It Starts with Effort Make an effort and put in the work

“All things are difficult before they are easy.” — Thomas Fuller

“Hope is wishing for a thing to come true. Faith is believing it will come true. Work is making it come true.” — Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

Thomas Fuller sums in eight words what I want to express in the next few hundred words. He was obviously much better as a concise and to-the-point writer.

Dr. Peale also accomplishes a profound sentiment I share in three short sentences.

I share the following with those I mentor and coach to arrive at the same conclusions as Mr. Fuller and Dr. Peale:

• Effort comes before Excellence.
• Entitlement does not come before Excellence.
• Excellence does not come before Effort.
• Experience comes from Effort.
• Expertise comes from Experience.
• It starts with Effort.
• Make the effort. Put in the work.
• Don’t expect to achieve anything worthwhile without making the effort and putting in the work.

I was raised by the hardest-working person I have ever known. From my perspective, there was nothing he could not do. That didn’t mean that he knew how to do everything. He just never allowed not knowing how to stop him.

He could fix a car. Any car. His Ford Torino. Jeep Wagoneer. Ford Thunderbird. Plymouth Reliant. Grandmother’s Ford Pinto.

He remolded the kitchen. Twice. Two different houses.

He replaced the roof, siding, and 90 panes of glass in the windows of our house after it was pulverized in a “microburst storm.” He replaced the carpet. Rewired the entire house—it was an old house with aluminum wiring. Replaced all of the plumbing—same old house had lead pipes.

Oh, and before all of this, he taught himself to read. He was educated and graduated from high school. But the Catholic school he attended through 8th grade did not teach him how to read. He was promoted to public high school with only basic reading proficiency and given a diploma when he completed the 12th grade because he was an excellent student who had won awards and excelled in other areas, particularly in fine arts and industrial arts.

His lack of reading ability was not due to a lack of effort.

As an adult, he recognized how much this limited his ability to do things he wanted to do. To learn what he wanted to learn. To achieve all that he wanted to achieve—for himself and his family.

No excuses. He was motivated. He applied himself. He worked hard. Very hard.

I was nearly an adult before I learned of this story. He was embarrassed and didn’t want anyone to know—especially not his only son. To me, I was proud—and am even more so today—of the man he was, and this took nothing away from that.

Actually, quite the opposite. I admire him tremendously. I cannot imagine how difficult that was and how much effort it must have required.

Then, to think about all that he was able to do. Not because he was a great reader. Even though he improved greatly, it still took a lot of effort to him read and comprehend.

But, from my perspective, if you can teach yourself to read, then figuring out how to do just about anything else—including fixing cars and remodeling houses—will not be an intimidating feat.

Unlike all of us today, he did not have Google. No YouTube. No shortcuts. If he could, he’d find a book or manual. Then read. Study. Learn. If needed, he’d find someone who had experience. Then ask. Listen. Learn.

If neither of those options were readily available, that didn’t stop him. I was an eyewitness to him figuring out how to do many things with nothing more than effort.

I brag about my dad a lot. Yes, I am a proud son. But more than that, I was privileged not only to be actively taught to work hard and have a strong work ethic (he never missed a “teachable moment” on those subjects), but I also had a front-row seat to see what an impact making the effort can have on someone’s life. That is the most valuable education I could have ever received. It transcends all the secular education I have pursued.

No matter what we attempt to do, we can expect that it’ll be difficult at first.Then with effort and hard work, it’s not so difficult. More effort, more work. Repeat until it’s easy.

At Ortulum Digital Consulting Inc., we can help you to achieve your work and life goals. No excuses. With effort and hard work, we’ll help you pursue your life’s passion, create new opportunities for your business, or make a daunting career change that fits your goals and aspirations.

Schedule a free 30-minute discovery call with us to talk to us about how we can help you.