Recognize When Your Effort Isn't Going Anywhere

Ever have the feeling that something you’re pushing isn’t moving?

I mean… have you ever been working on something, pushing for it, trying to make it work, but it doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere?

Today, I have some research that says that working long and hard won’t lead to success.

Research also says that although that is the case, there are some people who work long and hard and do find success.

I’ll explain to you those differences: what makes someone unsuccessful, what makes someone successful, and my take on this.

In the end, I’ll tell you what to recognize so that you can see if what you are pursuing will pay off or not.

When It May Not Work Out

Sometimes, people continue to work on things even when it doesn’t seem like it’s going well.

Based on research, here’s why that happens:

The “I Already Put In The Work” Trap

Also known as the sunk cost fallacy, it’s the feeling that you have to finish something just because you put a lot of time, money, or effort into it.

Loss Aversion: Losing feels worse than winning, I mean, duh. But what I mean is our brains feel the pain of losing much more than the reward of winning. We keep working because we don’t want to feel like we wasted out past efforts.
Narrative Framing: We want a happy ending. We like to think of our lives as a story. If we quit, we feel like the story ended in a failure. If we keep pushing, we hope we can turn it into a success story so that we don’t feel like we failed.
Commitment Bias: Sticking to our choices. Once we make a choice, pretty often, we want to stick with it. Even if we see proof that it’s a bad idea, we keep going just to show that we are committed.

Determination & Hope

Some people stay stuck because of how they handle their goals:

Being Very Determined: This is called Tenacious Goal Pursuit (TGP). It means that you’re very committed to changing things around you to accomplish your goal. Now, being determined is usually a good thing, but it can make it hard to see when a goal is actually impossible.
Being Very Hopeful: Young people are often very optimistic. They believe that if they keep trying, things will eventually work out because they have a lot of time and opportunities ahead of them.

Avoiding Bad Feelings

Quitting can be very scary or sad. People often keep working to avoid feeling guilty or regretful. For some people, especially older adults, having a more challenging goal is better than having no goal because at least they have a reason to keep going everyday.

When It Will Pay Off

Sometimes, sticking with the goal really does pay off. Based on research, here is why persistence works for some people:

Sticking To Reachable Goals

If a goal is something you can actually achieve, being determined is the best strategy to go with. Remember TGP? (Tenacious Goal Pursuit?)

By working hard and refusing to quit, you change the world around you until you finally reach your goal.

Our “Commitment Superpower”

Us humans have this special ability to plan and work on things for a really long time.

This is like a “commitment superpower.”

It allows people to finish huge projects that otherwise would’ve been impossible if they gave up the moment they run into a challenge.

Learning From Hard Work

People who want to grow see every challenge as a lesson.

Even if they spend an extra amount of time on a tough task, they gain valuable experience.

This experience allows them to do a better job or make better choices in the future.

Science Proves It Helps

Scientists have found that persistence, staying positive, and believing in yourself are key parts of being successful.

Research shows that people who keep trying and stay hopeful are often healthier and more likely to reach their goals.

Changing The Story

Sometimes, things “work out” because of the story we tell ourselves.

By finishing what they started, a person can call their journey a “success story.”

This helps them to feel proud of their hard work instead of feeling like they failed or wasted their time.

My Attempt & Deduction

A few years ago, October 2023, I attempted to make money with YouTube Ads and affiliate marketing.

That’s when you promote other people’s products and when someone buys, you get a commission.

So I learned how to do that using YouTube Ads.

Like every other attempt at making money I’ve did in the past, I needed the money like, the following month, otherwise life would continue to be challenging.

The whole premise of running YouTube Ads (or running any ads) is to test, test, and test until you find a winning ad.

I was getting closer and closer, my winning ad was right around the corner, I felt it.

I can’t even lie, the sunk cost fallacy was also affecting me because at this point, it’s been 3 months and I had put a significant amount of money into these campaigns…

More than anything, I did feel like I was getting closer and closer to my breakthrough, but also, because I had put so much money into it already, I needed it to work so that I can make my money back.

Loss aversion also came into affect I also kept going because I didn’t feel like I wasted all that money.

And I kept thinking to myself, “Imagine when I make back all my money… PLUS so much more?”… I was framing the narrative to make it sound so appealing.

So my wife, who was still my partner at the time, helped me decide what I should do.

And I told her that if I don’t make it work by March, I would call it quits as a successful experiment that didn’t work out.

As the weeks passed, I was getting even closer to finding my winning ad.

Then March came.

I kept going at it though.

Each week that passed, I only felt closer and closer.

Then by the end of June, I realized it probably wasn’t going anywhere, and my commitment bias, despite it being a few months late, made me realize I had to put a stop to it.

Luckily by then, I had discovered something I’ve never seen before and put my efforts into that.

What You Need To Recognize

This is something you should recognize so that you don’t end up working on something that is impossible to complete.

If you keep putting in effort — this could be anything from making yourself try to make a relationship work, pursuing a certain business model that you know isn’t right for you, or even in a career (you’re just doing it for the money and not because you like it at all)…

And despite adjusting, trying again, and even giving it more time…

And it still feels the same — I mean there’s no gradual improvements or any sign that it could be getting better…

At some point, it’s important for you to realize it’s not about trying differently at this point… it’s about recognizing that it isn’t changing.

But on the flip side:

If you’re putting in the effort to the point where your environment changes
You’re committing to making it work
You’re gaining experience and using that experience to make improvements
You’re persistent
You continue to stay positive
You stay believing in yourself
The story you tell yourself is positive and not negative

…then you have a strong chance to making work.