Of Effort and Balancing Value

Effort is something every artist or worker needs, whether that’s through repeated practice over a length of time, or in putting together a plan to make something happen.

But it also means learning what is valuable with your time, and what is not.

This example always seems to make people angry, but the truth is the truth.

If you exert yourself for a wage, your hard work isn’t rewarded any more because you get paid the same amount no matter what kind of effort you must put into it. Hard pill to swallow. But true. You could coast by or bust your behind, and the wage would stay the same.

Doesn’t seem that fair.

But the promotion, you say.

Yeah, but that could come after thousands of hours of the point I just made.

Whereas, if you do something for yourself, you can choose to increase or shrink it at will.

Right now, I’m dabbling in writing true crime scripts and writing philosophical takes on the human condition.

I can write as many of these as I need to in a month, and the reward is worth it.

There is opportunity for human writers even in the age of AI, because the AI bubble has sort of popped when companies realized it doesn’t increase productivity or accuracy as well as they thought.

There are even people who will pay you to use AI for content, but I ignore those.

Working at a 9-to-5 to support a family is something that should never be looked down on.

If you don’t provide for your own household, you’re worse than an unbeliever.

But I think entrepreneurial endeavors are far more rewarding.

But entrepreneurship can even be done in tandem with what people view as secure.

Here’s the thing that never made sense to me.

If having a job is so secure and entrepreneurship is the scary route, why is it that employees work for entrepreneurs?

If the security you think a job brings is truly there, isn’t it as unsafe as doing something for yourself? The entrepreneur is doing the so-called risky thing, yet they sign your check.

That argument holds no water to me.

If you fail, so what?

I had a holistic health business that didn’t work out, and I was in another consulting venture at one point.

Should that then stop someone?

No, because the more you fail, the more you realize what NOT to do.

Learning from failure is a gold mine, balancing what you should not do and what you should keep doing.

“I don’t have time for that sort of effort.”

The CEO of Amazon has the same 24 hours you do.

If we look at things with an honest lens, excuses seem to vanish.

Effort and return are a delicate thing to get right.

God wants us all to use our gifts to shape the world.

We’ve all had negative days and less-than-ideal situations.

But I believe if we humble ourselves enough to know we don’t know best, we understand God is the one who tells us, “Friend, go higher.”

That doesn’t mean staying stuck because not earning enough to thrive is the “noble” road.

Money is not evil.

It is a tool that can be used for good or evil.

I’m not arrogant enough to believe I know more than Yahweh on how to create wealth.

He says He gives us the ability to create wealth as a sign of the covenantal blessings of walking with Him.

What separates us from the world in this area is that we aren’t doing things to get that Ferrari, but rather for the glory of God. Hey, those are nice cars. But the glory of the Highest One should be our chief concern.

Put effort into the things that truly reward you, and God will smile upon you.

We all have our issues.

Some of us have fallen into the brilliant-but-lazy category because of imposter syndrome.

Others of us polish our work until it becomes far too smooth and never release something because we fear it won’t be enough.

Have the courage to try, damn it!

And if you fail, try again.

Or take Yoda’s advice and do. There may not be a try.

Perfection won’t be reached until the New Heavens and New Earth after Jesus rules for 1,000 years.

Better to start now, I’d say.

The you that exists five years from now is thanking you for not giving up, pressing on despite setbacks, and for putting in the right effort.

But most of all, God wants you to use the talents you have.

Shalom.