(Tuesday, 2/11/25/, 10:24 PM)

“Ma, I only have a few minutes–I have a midterm tomorrow, remember?”
“It’s okay, are you working hard enough? Make sure to do your best!”
“Yes, yes, yes, okay, okay, I work hard enough.”
“Okay, baby, I love you.”
“I love you too; I’m coming home on Thursday until Sunday.”
“Okay, work hard, love you, bye.”
“Bye”

WHY?
There are a few things I’ve come to appreciate throughout my life: my mother, my family, my friends, and most of all, the innate ability for anyone to do incredible things. For the longest time, I struggled to understand how I could participate in this myself. I’m often asked, “are you working hard enough?” by my mother, friends, and especially myself. I always struggled to grasp the concept of pushing myself to my limit–I mean, if I finished the homework and went to school, that’s enough, right? I realized I didn’t have to work hard to get by–that was enough for me.

FIRST, GRIT
Life goes on, and we grow as people. Being thrust into high-intensity situations as the founding member of my debate team and often competing at tournaments completely solo–no team, no coach–and eventually rising to the statewide number one position taught me what it meant to be the controller of my fate, even if it was only for a few rounds a week. I realized I was great at what I did–but wasn’t the best. I still shook at the lectern and stuttered in rebuttals; I still lost too many rounds. It became apparent that my problem wasn’t my natural talent–I had plenty of that–but my work ethic. I spent less time preparing than nearly all my competitors. I trusted that my innate ability would carry me far–maybe forever. It didn’t. I realized that if I wanted to continue to be the phenom I dreamed of, I had to work much harder. I realized that I could operate at 100%, but for some reason, I limited myself to no more than 70%. I embarked on a journey to capture that 30% I left on the table, and eventually, I learned there are only two things that matter in the decision-making process: can I? And should I? If the answer to both is yes, then I have no excuse not to do it. Frankly, it doesn’t matter if it’s hard. I’ve realized that nothing worthwhile is easy; they tend to be intensely difficult. Here’s a question I once asked a member of my officer team on student council about what they felt they were capable of: could they accomplish a nearly impossible project if it meant the difference between life and death, and the answer through tears was merely, “No, I couldn’t.” That was astounding to me–it was mind-blowing. I knew they could do it if they wanted to; at that moment, I realized that the problem is rarely ability but simple determination–a duty to do something.

THEN, DUTY
It became apparent to me that many things can motivate someone, but the absolution of duty to do something is the chief one. Duty is explained in many ways–a father has a duty to his children and an employee to their company. The duty I care about here is one’s duty to themselves–what do you owe yourself daily? The concept of duty is absolute–there is no way around it; it’s an obligation stronger than honor–the consequence of not fulfilling duty is a betrayal. I would argue the worst kind of betrayal is one to yourself–all one does in leaving a duty to oneself unfulfilled is the destruction of oneself, an untapped potential, a sea of “what ifs?” So, I realized I had a duty to operate at my best and expand my limits. Every. Single. Day. This realization came as I finished my term as student council president, overseeing 80 students, from dorms to public outreach. I realized I had a duty to the people I led and, most importantly, to myself.

NOW, EXCEEDING LIMITS
Duty is worthless if one can’t fulfill it; if it is impossible, but few things are. The final thing I tell myself daily is simple: “the supreme test of an individual is his ability to make things go right–and persist until they do.” Every day, we are tested in our ability to make things right for ourselves and those who trust us. The ability to make things go right is that hallowed ability that the greatest figures in history have had–Winston Churchill, Joan of Arc, the list goes on forever. For good reason: the ability to make things go right in the face of great adversity is the hallmark of the greatest figures in history. This is the most crucial ability: making things work when broken, beautiful when ugly, and alive when they’re dying are on the same level as miracles. The only difference is that these are miracles that anyone can perform if they only care enough–if they feel their duty to do something is so great that the alternative is simply unacceptable on the highest level. That’s the most incredible thing: if your duty is significant enough that the only acceptable result is greatness, then you would never fail–it wouldn’t even be possible in your universe–you may encounter obstacles. Still, you will do nothing but crush them. The beauty of it? The beauty lies in finding all this within you–if you only care enough.

FINALLY, THE LESSON
And that is the heart of it: if you can, and you should, then you must. Nothing else makes sense. Why waste time lingering in mediocrity when greatness is right there? If the alternative were unthinkable—if failure wasn’t an option—YOU would find a way. And that’s precisely what heroes throughout history did: they took the “impossible” and made it an afterthought. They refused to betray their potential, answering the call of duty to themselves daily. So the next time you wonder if you’re working hard enough, remember that your power to make things go right—to break the unbreakable, fix the unfixable, create the incredible—begins when you decide the only outcome you’ll accept is success. In that decision, you become the master of your fate, the captain of your destiny, and the one who proves—once and for all—that nothing is impossible for those who demand more from themselves and only at that moment, you’ll truly be working hard enough.