Half-Measures Are For Pussies
Have you ever given 50% and expected 100% quality? Have you ever painted half a house and tried to pass it off as complete? Have you ever tried to eat a half-cooked chicken breast? If you have, this article is about you.
Before we begin, there is a clear difference I must outline for you between doing something half-heartedly, and not doing something at all. Doing something half-heartedly means you're going through the motions but not really dedicating yourself. Not doing something at all means you aren't interested in trying, probably because it's something that doesn't interest you. This article is about doing things half-heartedly, not about things you don't do at all.
A growing problem in today's society is that people are slacking off from doing their best because they're lazy. It's not that they can't do it, it's that they're unwilling to do it because it's hard. When someone only gives half an effort, but expect the same results as someone who gives full effort, that person is a moron.
My favourite example of this at the moment has to do with the actors and stuntmen from the movie 300. If you haven't seen this movie yet, you should. If you have seen it, you'll know what I'm talking about when I say all the actors are totally ripped. Four months before shooting began, most of them were out of shape. So how did they do it?
Most theories have to do with CGI or makeup or some shit, because it's clearly impossible to go from "average guy" to "really muscular" in so short a time. The truth? They got there by working hard and eating well.
So why all those crackpot theories? Basically, it was people who weren't working as hard as them claiming that since they couldn't do it, nobody could do it. Have you ever heard a line of bullshit thicker than the phrase "If I can't do it then nobody can?"
That's why expecting 100% results from 50% effort sucks, instead of just being stupid: when you don't commit yourself to something as well as you need to in order to get phenomenal results, you are naturally inclined to put down someone getting results faster as "clearly cheating" in some way.
The fact of the matter is those actors and stuntmen trained their asses off for four months, and they got the results. Anyone else doing the same would see dramatic results too, but most people don't have the willpower to stick with it, or they're too pussy to try.
This isn't just limited to the workout world either: anywhere where effort is required for success, people slack off. Places like work, or personal betterment, or social skills. Think of your single friends, and try to count how many of them will say "I really need a girlfriend" (or boyfriend), and then stay at home watching television. You can't succeed if you're too fucking lazy to try.
The worst part is your half-hearted effort usually ends up fucking over those around you. Consider a department with three people in it: one does a normal amount of work (normal worker), one does as little work as possible (slacker), and one buckles down and focuses on nothing but work in an effort to get things done (exemplar). The less the slacker does, the more the other two are forced to do so the department doesn't fall behind. The exemplar, completely dedicated to the work, will get more done than the normal worker, and probably gets paid better because of it. Now when the slacker discovers that they're not getting paid as much as the exemplar, do you think they're likely to realize it's because they slack off? Fuck no! They do the same job, so fairness dictates they receive the same pay. Sorry asshole, but the real world doesn't work that way.
In this world, the well-populated one that isn't always fair, performance is based on effort, and results are based on performance. Most people struggle to lose one pound of weight per week because they think a diet is enough. A couple weeks ago I changed my eating habits and expanded my workout schedule from three nights a week to every day, busting my ass, and I lost fifteen pounds in twelve days. Am I cheating? Am I using supplements? What's my secret? I'm just putting in the fucking effort to get the job done!
The bottom line is if you put in the effort for something, you will get results that reflect your effort. Superior effort breeds superior results. If you put in a sub-standard effort and expect superior results, you are deluded. If you use your sub-standard effort as the high end of the measuring stick and say everyone doing better is cheating, you're living in SuckVille.