Today, we’re going to give it 35%!
Contributed by Jeff Beck.
“You’ve got to give it 110%!” I’ll never know how one gives more than 100%, but I digress. These well-meaning words of encouragement never sit well with me. Perhaps it’s because we interpret that to mean that we’ve got to give 100% of 100% all the time, every time, which is unrealistic.
But what if we simply misunderstand this statement?
What if what we are really supposed to do is give 100% of whatever we have left? Isn’t that giving it 100%? How much do we admire the person giving the last dollar in their pocket to someone in need? That last dollar isn’t likely to change the other person’s long-term circumstances, but it does, for a moment, demonstrate a willingness to try; to give all you have, and most importantly, relate to one another.
All too often, we see effort on a large scale.
We assume that the only action worth taking must be BIG. And since we can give 100% of 100% so rarely, we choose to forego the small efforts in the belief that someday, we’ll be able to make a significant impact. This speaks to various circumstances like; starting a business, getting fit and healthy, learning a new skill, etc. We become a culture of all or nothing, leading to complacency. And complacency, my friends, is the death of creativity. But that’s an article for another day. No, I say it’s the small efforts we make each day that inspires lasting, sustainable change.
I used to have a poster on my wall that said, “START SMALL, think big!” I designed it so that the “START SMALL” was huge and the “think big” was tiny. Big things will happen, but only if we remember it’s an accumulation of all the little things.
So get out there and give it all that you’ve got! Even if that’s only 35%.
