I was on the Freshman “B” basketball team in Brunswick, Maine. We had moved there in September and now it was December. The “A” team, which played in the school gym against the other high schools’ Freshman team, was everyone on the “B” teams’ dream.
The “B” team practiced at the National Guard Armory (right next to the high school) and there was about 15-20 of us. It was my 14th birthday in 1965 and I purposed in my heart and mind that I was going to score 14 baskets in our scrimmage. Mind you, this was when Mario was young and thin and could actually run and jump without setting off the seismographs in California!
That afternoon I played my heart out! I ran, stole the ball, shot, rebounded and did everything I could to make 14 baskets - 28 points in a scrimmage! Well I did it! I was so proud of myself and couldn’t wait to go to coach and brag.
“Hey Coach, I scored 28 points! What do you think of that?”
Instead of praising me for a good job done, he kind of deflated my ego by saying, “Smith, if you played like that every game, you’d be on the ‘A’ team.”
I was stunned! Instead of hearing what he was trying to teach me all I could think was, “If you’d put me on the ‘A’ team I would play like that all the time!”
It took me a long time to realize what he tried to teach me. Are you ready for it? Here it is: “Reward follows the effort, not the other way around.”
Does that mean I wasn’t playing hard every other time in scrimmage? No, what it means is that I did not put every effort I had in to playing every game. If I had played every other game intending to score 14 baskets, running as hard as I could, jumping high, grabbing rebounds, and getting serious about winning, I would have been on the team that got its picture in the yearbook and received a sports letter.
So many times we expect to be rewarded for just showing up for a job or a class. There is a connection between effort and receiving an award. Whether it is playing hard every second of every scrimmage to earn a spot on the “A” team, or going to every class and studying as much as possible to earn the “A” grade, reward follows the effort.
If people are just given an “A” grade because they showed up for class, they have not truly “earned” the grade. Do you want the grade? Then put in the effort.
Do you want recognition on the job? Then put in the effort. Do you want your relationship with your spouse to be the best? You must put in the effort. Whatever you desire, it is up to you to put in the effort!
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