Summary

The provided text discusses the Law of Wasted Efforts, emphasizing that continuous effort and learning from failures are essential for success.

Abstract

The concept of the Law of Wasted Efforts is explored in the text, illustrating how Nature's abundance is maintained through consistent effort. It is highlighted that even though not all attempts are successful, each effort contributes to learning and growth. The article draws parallels between animal behaviors in the wild, such as lion hunting and fish reproduction, and human endeavors, suggesting that persistence and resilience are key to eventual success. The text also touches on the idea that knowledge gained, even seemingly unrelated or unused, can become valuable in the future, using examples like Steve Jobs' typography skills and personal anecdotes about learning web design. The author encourages readers not to be deterred by failure, as it is a necessary part of the journey towards achieving goals.

Opinions

The author believes that failure is an integral part of the learning process and should not be viewed as a setback but as a stepping stone to success.
It is suggested that animals instinctively understand the importance of persistence, which humans can learn from to improve their own chances of success.
The article posits that the efforts invested in learning, even if they do not yield immediate results, are not wasted and can prove beneficial in the long run.
The author emphasizes that success is a result of compounded efforts and learning over time, rather than a single, successful attempt.
There is an opinion that society's focus on success or failure is misguided, as the true measure of achievement is the continued effort and accumulation of knowledge.
The author expresses that personal growth and knowledge acquisition are valuable in their own right and contribute to one's overall life path.

Lifestyle/Person Growth

Understanding The Law Of Wasted Efforts

This law explains why continuous effort is necessary to succeed

Nothing is in vain in the actual sense of the word. **Photo by Kaleidico on Unsplash**

In the wild and natural life, there is a law that takes care of the abundance in Nature. It is called, The law of Wasted Effort. The animals in the wild understand this law, and they flow with it. However, it is still confusing for us, humans, as we want all our efforts to be rewarded, and get easily discouraged if we fail in one area or the other.

The Law Explained

This law builds up efforts and learning in every attempt. Even if we don’t succeed in one or several attempts, we would have learnt something in the process. This is the same as the learning curve because the one who makes an attempt is not the same as the one that has just started out on a project.

‘’I have not failed, but found a thousand attempts to make a light bulb.’’ Thomas Eddison

Lions, for instance only succeed in a quarter of their hunting attempt. This does not make them give up on hunting, (otherwise, they would starve) but it also empowers them to do better next time, as they understand the law which is instinctively built into them. Most cubs failed or even get killed in their first hunting, but continue to develop hunting skills for future success.

Look at the millions of species of fish in the ocean. Fertilization is external, in which the female releases millions of eggs into the sea. Only half of the eggs are fertilized, the rest are eaten by various fishes hunting for food. This is one reason why fish eggs are so enormous in quantity. Only about half will meet the fertilization goal.

Baby bears are highly prone to death in the wild. Most of them die or are eaten by predators.

Squirrels do gather nuts in readiness for winter months. Most of where they gather their nuts are disrupted by humans and then trashed, but they just find other spots to continue their stash. They are never put off.

Most seeds planted are eaten by birds and worms, nevertheless, we have enough trees to nourish the atmosphere for our survival.

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” — Robert Collier.

Failure And Learning Is How You Look At It

In all learning, most of what we learnt in school, is not really used until perhaps later in life. Steve Jobs told the story, of how he learnt typography, just for the fun of it. He made use of this knowledge in designing the first apple computer, the mackintosh ten years later.

Most of us just take a course we were offered at University. It might not be what we want to study, but at the same time, we do not want to miss the offer, so we take it. Then in later years, we realise that the course is paramount to what we want to embark upon.

I remembered when I registered for an online web designing program. The instructor told me to at least spend one hour a day on the course. He advised that it is better than spending several hours once a week in it. He said this is the power of compounding and learning effects.

✨ Bridget Webber mentioned that Leopard can change his spot:

Leopards Do Change Their Spots

But not always in the way you want them to

medium.com

The Takeaways

Humanity judges by success or failure according to their perspective. In real life, there’s no failure, unless we quit.
In our life path, all learning is useful, so to say, as the lessons add up to our knowledge in life which can be useful in other areas.
We should not be demoralised by failure, so as not to let us keep trying until we reach our desired goal.
‘’Don’t be afraid not to fail, only be afraid not to try.’’ Kathi Reuter.
Success only comes after repeated efforts.

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