Effort + Time = Impressively Awesome

A collection of handmade Valentines

It's easy to think of people who blow others out of the water when talking about being impressively awesome. I think particularly of the Martha Stewart types. My mother is one. I assume I learned it from her.

Why do I say this? Because every time I do anything, I do it big. This includes whenever I've been in a teaching situation. When I was an AmeriCorps member at a school I actually made little Valentine candy bags for all the students (I think that was 50 students). When I was a teaching assistant at UCSB, I physically met with each individual student in my discussion sessions (75 students each quarter) to get to know them. When I was teaching speech and English Comp at SBBC, I made sure to give my students a holiday card with a few pieces of candy before the winter break. This past Valentine's Day I handmade Valentine's Day cards for each of my 80 students so they would have examples of what they could do to make their own cards for family and friends (it was an art class - taking home the example is so much cooler than just looking at the one attached to the board!).

Why are these examples of being impressively awesome? Because they show effort and time. Whenever you put effort into something, you'll do well. This is because you can do no less. When you put time into something, you'll do well, because you can do no less. Both effort and time are an indication of care - of intention and purpose. Positive intention and purpose inspires others to think more positively of you, give you the benefit of the doubt, and generally be impressed with you even if others are more skilled or talented. Effort and time are always worth the cost, especially if you're looking to move to the next level in your relationship, career, or life. The result will always be impressively awesome.