Why Working Hard is Essential to Our Development as a Species

I recently received a calculus test back, and received a mark of 81. I was devastated, but you might be asking, why? Why am I not satisfied with being slightly above average? Some of may be thinking, “If I got an 81, I’d be ecstatic.” But the truth is, an 81 is not good enough, because I know I can do better with more effort. The very next test I got a 90, but alas, it is not good enough. I am not satisfied until I achieve 100 percent, because I am fully capable of it.

If humans in this world do not rise up to their maximum potential and achieve what they are capable of, then humans are no more than animals just going about their day-by-day actions on the basis of survival, as opposed to self-betterment. The creativity and “humanness” is gone.

Looking at the case of animals, animals do not practice or do things for the sake of improving their skills. Animals do what they need to do to survive. This can be related in the same manner to humans. A large portion of high school graduates are heading off into university for the sole purpose of getting a job. They are getting a job because they need to survive; not because they want to improve their skills, but because they need a job to survive. How are those people any different from animals going hunting for their next meal? Those who work primarily for the love of it and to improve themselves as people, those are the people who are the most successful in life.

There is nobody born with enough talent and brain-power to not need to practice his or her skills. Mozart was playing piano by the age of three, and picked up a violin at the age of five. And that was his life from then on. He played and composed music constantly. While that was his gift in life, he did not waste his time. He utilized his gifts to achieve his maximum potential. A man I know personally, who everyone assumes has gone through life on his natural talent, has worked harder than anyone. During grade nine he was studying calculus that is harder than the stuff the rest of us struggle through in grade 12. It was not solely because of his natural talent in math that he was able to do this, but because of his determination, his love of learning, and his urge to make himself better in every way possible. Every one of us should be striving to achieve what the great people in this world have done, because for every one of us it is reachable.

If people choose to be lazy and not better themselves, then we will come to a creative standstill. People cannot and should not be satisfied with being average or “just good enough.”  Our society will come to a halt, and everyone will be the same. There will be no distinct individuality. As humans, we cannot lose what makes us “human”. If we do not strive to achieve our potential, but instead waste it, is there really any point in us being any more than animals? If we squander the gifts we are given and abandon what makes us human, why do we not just go live in the forest with the other animals?