If I give 100% effort, that’s pretty darn good. I think most people would be satisfied with me saying that I’m going to give 100% effort instead of say 60% effort. I think we can all agree that less than 100% effort is possible and probably common in many endeavors. But if I give 100% effort, that’s great. I’m giving it my all. Yay me.
But we are moving into the time of year when we will likely hear from many sports figures that they plan to give 110% on the field. Not possible. Those folks lack something I like to call common sense. A bit harsh? Perhaps.
If I can give 110% effort, and that is all the effort I can give, then that means that I am giving 100% effort. I can never, nor can anyone else, give more effort than they can give. If I can somehow give 110% effort, then I wasn’t giving a 100% effort before. There is no giving more effort than I can give. 110% makes absolutely no sense when we are talking about individuals and the amount of effort they give at any task. To claim that now, somehow, you are going to give it more effort than before and that will be more than 100% is silly. If you are always giving your all, then you are always giving 100% effort. That is not to say that the amount of effort that each of us has and can give doesn’t vary—of course it does. If I am under the weather, then I can’t give as much effort as if I am healthy. In that moment of ill health, I can still give 100% effort. It just won’t be the same 100% that I can give when I’m healthy.
So how about we knock off the whole “I’m going to give more effort than is possible to give” attitude and ditch the 110% effort talk.