A ‘Total Human Effort Is Indifferent to Outcome

I once gave a talk where everyone cried. I cried, the hosts cried, the audience cried, and even the sound guy cried. At the time I was calling it the Total Human Effort and the talk was brought together with two similar videos. 

Both videos were of Olympic-level efforts; one in track and the other in weightlifting. They are the kind of moments where, frankly, we all watch and cry.

These efforts are very different in their result. 

The first is a classic from Beijing when Mattias Steiner took gold in weightlifting after promising his wife he’d accomplish the feat. She later died tragically before the Games and Steiner needed to hit a personal record in his third attempt of the clean and jerk to win as an underdog. Watch the video to see a human giving his most vulnerable best effort. 

The second video is also a classic, but this time a tragedy in Barcelona. Derek Redmond was running the 400m semi-final when he tore his hamstring. In a pinnacle moment in his career on the world’s stage, his hopes were crushed. Nonetheless, he chose to get up and finish the race hobbling on one leg as a point of pride only to have his father emerge from the stands to help him do it. 

You see, I shared these two videos as an example of a ‘Total Human Effort’ because they both are Earth-shattering moments of deep resonance and inspiration. One is a remarkable victory and the other is a colossal defeat. 

I’m here to make the case (separate of outcome) that a total and complete human effort is the point. The richest of life’s experiences are in the willingness to go where these men both went. 

Keep going.