You're a Result of Your Actions

Lazy leaves clues, but most people aren’t called out for being lazy.

Hard workers? They don’t care if anyone notices their effort. They wouldn’t know how to stop if they tried.

Chris Williamson said something I can’t stop thinking about:

Let that settle in for a second. You are the result of your actions, not your aspirations.

There is nothing wrong with having big dreams. In fact, dreaming about a better future is essential. But the dream itself doesn’t do the work. It doesn’t put in the reps. It doesn’t sweat, struggle, or stretch.

Only your actions can do that. And not just the convenient kind of action, the hard kind. The kind that hurts.

Yesterday, I was driving my 13-year-old son home from football conditioning. It was an hour-long, brutally hot, and physically demanding. He was proud of the effort he gave and the effort he saw from many of his teammates.

But here’s what I told him. Effort lives on a continuum.

At one end, there are players who didn’t show up. That’s minimal effort.
Then there are the ones who showed up, but coasted. Better than nothing. Next, the players who gave it everything they had for the full hour. That’s strong effort.
And finally, the rare few who will repeat the same workout tomorrow, alone, when no one’s watching. That’s elite effort.

The goal is to keep moving up the continuum.

Because effort isn’t just about showing up. It’s about how you show up, especially when no one else is watching.

You are the result of your actions, not your aspirations. So choose effort today. Not the easy kind, the kind that counts.

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