Essay #002

The Delta-Effort Theory

I have this theory, that whenever we have a big task ahead of us, the ones that makes you give that short-breathed sigh, there is a small mindset change that can make a whole lot of difference in your end success. I call this the Delta-Effort Theory. 

The Delta-Effort Theory consists on thinking that everything that you must accomplish, however large, difficult or unpleasant it might be, is nothing more than beating a certain amount of focused effort, or Delta-Effort. Now you might make an analogy to climbing a mountain or a ladder if it makes you more confortable with the idea.

I find that once you reason that all you need to do is to accumulate a certain effort to do a task, you accept the task. Then it is simply a manner of sticking to the work. You crumble your inner resistances. There are no steep walls anymore, but you start to search for gentle slopes that will guide you to the summit. 

Since accumulating a certain work roughly translates to logging a certain amount of hours on the job, it is equally possible to think about this as stockpiling hours. It is no longer a matter of whether you will succeed or not, but a matter of when will that happen. And this is powerful, enabling thinking. 

To be completely honest, this changed my whole perspective into what is and isn't possible for someone to accomplish. I've heard people say before that nothing is truly impossible, and I found myself, in light of this Theory and the experiences I had with it, finding it to be true. 

Now, the Delta-Effort may be too big for a single person to reach, in a lifetime. That is possible. Even worse, you may grossly underestimate the Delta-Effort at first. But wasn't that a fault by your part, rather than a flaw in the Theory? Isn't it perhaps, a discovery on itself for you and others to truly fathom how difficult a problem is?

This is the Delta-Effort Theory. I hope you can use it to study for tests, finish assignments in work, personal Projects, it is valid for a number of situations in life.

BANNER IMAGE CREDITS: NASA, ESA, N. Smith (University of California, Berkeley), and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) 

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