effort vs success

here's a question that will ruin your afternoon: on a scale of 1 to 10, how much conscious effort are you actually putting toward your biggest goal right now?

not how much you think about it. not how much you want it. how much deliberate, uncomfortable, consistent effort are you applying?

the entitlement problem

everyone wants success. very few people want the work that produces it. and the gap between those two things is where bitterness lives.

you see someone else win and think "must be nice" or "they got lucky." maybe they did. but more likely, they were putting in 8s and 9s on the effort scale while you were cruising at a comfortable 4.

success correlates directly with conscious effort. not talent. not connections. not luck. effort. the other stuff helps, but effort is the multiplier.

the honest assessment

sit down and rate your effort honestly. not your busyness — being busy is not the same as being effective. rate how much focused, intentional work you're doing toward the thing you say you want most.

if that number is below a 7, you have your answer for why things aren't moving.

the uncomfortable math

here's what people don't want to hear: you might fail after giving a 10. you might fail after giving a 10 a hundred times in a row.

but success is correlated, not guaranteed. the question isn't whether effort guarantees results — it's whether you're even in the game at the level required to have a shot.

a 5-level effort will occasionally produce a 5-level result. it will never produce a 10-level result.

raise the bar or lower the expectation

you have two honest options. either increase your effort to match your ambition, or decrease your ambition to match your effort. what you can't do is maintain low effort and high expectations without becoming a bitter, resentful person.

pick one. be honest about it. then execute.

if this resonated, share it with someone who needs to hear it.