When Effort Equals Reward: Studies Reveal How to Keep Trying Even When Other People Would Quit

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Accroding to the he knows two people who recently tried to start their own businesses. (They kept their full-time jobs, an approach Arnold Schwarzenegger and Richard Branson both recommend.) Despite their best efforts, both of their businesses failed.  One of them immediately launched another startup. The other vowed to never test the startup waters again, a reaction that objectively makes sense.  

Why is one person so willing to start another business after the previous business failed? Why is someone willing to spend months training for a triathlon just to get a finisher’s medal that is probably worth (in real-world terms) a dollar? Why was I willing to spend close to 100 hours digging into a dune so I could built a deck?  That phenomenon is what psychologists call the effort paradox: where effort adds meaning to the completion of a task, and sometimes is the goal itself. A Harvard Business School study calls it the “Ikea Effect”: the idea that “labor alone can be sufficient to induce greater liking for the fruits of one’s labor,” and that people assign “significantly more value to objects they imagined, created, or assembled.”

Trying, and failing, and trying again to be an entrepreneur? The effort alone is worth a lot to that person.  So why do some people keep going, and others decide the effort just isn’t worth it? Why are you sometimes willing to keep going, and other times not?  The difference may lie in their, and your, definition of success. While it sounds obvious, we all work hard for some sort of reward. Extrinsic rewards like money, prestige, or recognition. Intrinsic rewards like fulfillment, satisfaction, or self-worth. Effort should result in something, so we tend to reward ourselves for success. 

What if, instead of seeking an outcome that is partially outside your control, you choose a goal completely within your control? What if you see the goal as doing all the work?  Take that approach, and a study published in Psychological and Cognitive Sciences found that rewarding yourself for effort instead of outcomes increases your preference for (and willingness to undertake) more demanding tasks in the future.

Think of it as the difference between fixed and growth mindsets. According to research on achievement and success by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, most people tend to have one of two mental perspectives where talent is concerned.  People with a fixed mindset tend to focus on outcomes. If I fail, it’s because I’m not smart enough. Not skilled enough. Not talented enough. Not something. The outcome is the reward… or in least effort terms, the signal to stop trying and give up.  People with a growth mindset tend to focus on the effort itself. If they fail, that’s just a sign they need to keep trying. The effort, at least in part, is the reward, because they trust the effort will eventually lead to something.

The next time you tackle something difficult, reframe the finish line. Say you’re trying to land a new customer. No matter how much effort you put into it, factors outside your control may cause the customer to say “no.” Shifting priorities. Budget constraints. Lack of final authority. Try as you might, you can’t totally control the outcome.

See the effort as the finish line, not the outcome.  That way the effort will be your reward, and will motivate you to keep going, keep improving, and keep working hard. And will help you feel better about yourself; according to a University of Toronto study, finding meaning in effort and not just outcomes leads to feeling a greater sense of purpose, meaning, and overall life satisfaction.  Which in itself is a wonderful outcome, and reward.

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