The 100th Edition

Effort is the only thing we can truly ask of ourselves.

Something to Think About

Maybe being proud of yourself shouldn’t depend on whether you think you’re keeping up with everyone else, but whether you’re honestly showing up with what you have.

Something to Ask Yourself

Am I measuring myself by outcomes, or by the effort I’m actually putting in?

Personal Lesson

I’ve always had a difficult relationship with effort. 

I have high expectations of myself, and when people tell me to slow down, be kinder to myself, or give myself a break (as they sometimes do), the immediate reaction in my head (although I don’t like to admit it) has often been: 

“ah but you don’t get it. I have big goals. I need to keep going.”

The internet doesn’t help. 

It constantly makes you feel like you’re not doing enough, succeeding enough, earning, training, creating, or growing quickly enough. 

Right now, I feel completely drowned in work. 

And when there’s always more to do, it becomes very easy to turn that into a story that says, “I’m not good enough.”

But, this Weekly Reframe is actually a helpful practice for me and it’s reminded me I’m putting in a serious amount of effort. 

I am working hard. I’m trying. 

And while there are always things to improve, that has to count for something. 

In fact, it has to count for a lot. Because at the end of the day, all I can really ask of myself is to wake up and do my best with what I have.

And that’s all you can really ask of yourself, too.

Running – Life’s Metaphor

Running teaches us that effort matters long before the result arrives. You don’t become fitter because every run is perfect. You become fitter because you keep showing up, keep trying, keep adapting, and keep giving honest effort even when progress feels invisible.

Final Thoughts

I used to think participation medals were a bunch of horseshit. 

Well, I kind of still do… if it’s just everyone at the sports day gets one. 

I thought they taught the wrong lesson. 

People of course need to learn that hard work pays off, that you don’t get rewarded just for turning up, and that life doesn’t hand you medals for attending.

But I also think there is something more profound hidden inside the idea. 

Maybe we don’t need to reward empty participation. But we absolutely should recognise effort. 

Real effort. Honest effort. 

Like, when someone is clearly trying, learning, caring, and giving what they can.

That is all I’ve ever really wanted from other people. 

If someone is working with me, I don’t need them to get everything perfect the first time. We can improve things and refine and learn and try again. 

What matters to me is whether they’re genuinely trying. Whether they care enough to make an effort.

And maybe that is all we should expect from ourselves too. Instead of perfection and constant progress and success every day. 

Just honest effort. 

To wake up, face what is in front of us, and do the best we can. 

That counts, man!

More than we often allow ourselves to believe.

Thanks for reading this week’s edition of the Weekly Reframe.

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RUN THE RUNNABLE 😉