What is Action-Effort?
When you are given a task to complete, there are many different ways you can approach it. Something as simple as doing homework or practicing a martial arts form, actually has many different parts important to successfully accomplishing it. You may think it’s as easy as just completing whatever task you’re assigned, but you would be wrong. Do you know the difference between action and effort?
Action vs Effort
Action is simply doing a task because you have to do it. For example, if you are asked to help clean up the martial arts studio, you may be tired from practice or feel bored doing this particular task. But you still want to help clean up because it’s the responsible and considerate thing to do. So, you get to work cleaning up. This is called taking action.
Effort is the amount of thought and work you put into a task. For example, if you are asked to help clean up the martial arts studio, you may look around and see that it is a bit messy from practice. You may like tidying up or you may think about how happy it will make your teacher to see a clean studio. So, you put a little extra work into cleaning up. This is called putting in effort.
Why Does it Matter?
It can be difficult to see the difference between action and effort. After all, if you’re doing the task anyway, why does it matter the effort you put into the task?
Taking action is great, it shows initiative and responsibility. When you see a task that needs to be done or you are kindly asked to help complete an important task, it is important to take action. This is the first step to completing the task and makes a big difference. While it may be tempting to avoid a task when you don’t feel like doing it, taking action shows others that they can depend on you, and that you are responsible enough to know how important it is that you do the things that need to be done. However, your action isn’t the only thing that matters.
Making a good effort in the tasks you do is also very important. If you are asked to help clean up, you may do the task poorly or half-heartedly. While this means you are taking action, it shows that you aren’t putting in a lot of effort. When you do a task with energy and enthusiasm, you may do a better job and complete it faster. Putting in effort also shows that you are doing your task with a good attitude and that you really do care about the task.
Balancing Action-Effort
Sometimes you may be given tasks that you just don’t want to do, but you should still try to put in a good effort. To help you balance your action-effort when you are asked to do a task, think about the reasons you are doing it. For example, you do homework to help you learn better and you do martial arts practice to help you become a better sportsman. By keeping these reasons in mind, you make it easier to have a better attitude and put in more effort in your tasks. Always strive to have a healthy action-effort balance!
