Woody Allen once said that eighty percent of success is showing up.  He certainly had a point, as nothing would be accomplished if you never showed up to work.  There is still more to the story though.  If showing up was all that mattered, every athlete who stepped into the arena would succeed.  Clearly, that isn’t the case.  There are countless factors that lead some to success and others to failure.

Unfortunately, it’s not possible to dissect the entire topic of success within a brief blog entry, but I can highlight one extremely important factor…

Effort – exertion of physical or mental power

Individual effort is often more important than anything else.  At some point, the difference between you and a competitor may be nothing more than who wants it more.  Who is willing to push harder?  Who is willing to sacrifice more?

The answer to these questions will often be more relevant than any other commonly discussed topics in today’s training world.  While some athletes argue over dietary plans and periodization models, there are others who show up with the mindset that they cannot and will not be defeated.  They don’t care what rep scheme you believe in.  When push comes to shove, they are always ready to push back.

As for examples, I could have posted one of countless boxing or MMA videos where an athlete continues to get up from the canvas as he refuses to quit.  I’ve already shared several fighter based videos however so I opted for a less dramatic example.

The video below shows an extremely intense and sustained effort.  The lift takes almost 13 seconds to complete.  Those who haven’t pulled heavy weights have no idea how impressive it is to see such a lengthy pull through to completion.

Hats off to the lifter for his determination and effort.

+++++

Much good work is lost for the lack of a little more. – Edward H. Harriman