Being effortlessly good at something isn’t as great as we make it out to be.
I think it’s actually rewarding to work hard and then see our progress.
For example, on my favorite episode of The Art of Charm podcast, the host talks about how he used to do very little interview preparation. He used to brag that he could do the minimum amount of work and still do a good job. But then he realized that was an empty way to view a project about which he was so passionate. He wasn’t caring about his work and it wasn’t satisfying him.
Now, he really commits the time to fully dive into the preparatory research. As a result, he gets much more fulfillment, and the interviews are better!
We try to put in minimum effort because it’s a way to protect ourselves against failure. If things don’t work out, then we can blame our lack of effort.
In an age that praises apathy, we need people that care about their work enough to go the extra mile. Your work will be better and you will be more satisfied with the process.