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Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment: Success and failure are all about the results – this is what most of us are taught to believe. I can see the logic in this because success comes with results and accolades that help us recognise a victory. This quote by Mahatma Gandhi talks about the effort involved in achieving success. Some of our successes can sometimes be fluke events. Although they give us the results, the satisfaction derived from them is small and in some cases disappointing. This quote brings the focus back to the effort involved and the satisfaction derived from this effort.

Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment

The attainment only refers to the result of our hard work. Don’t get me wrong, I love these results and enjoy the accolades that come with them. However, the rewards sometimes mask the level of effort involved in achieving success. The effort however takes us through a journey. Sometimes, these efforts are riddled with failures that make us question our values, beliefs and confidence. So even failures become a part of the success journey.

Attainment alone masks the importance of failures and how they shape the effort. Hence, a focus on the effort and giving our all brings a deeper meaning to our approach. It is difficult to face failures and not get what we want. At the same time, we should ensure that we respect our efforts and derive the satisfaction that they bring. Satisfaction is all about asking whether we did the best with the resources we had then. If the answer is yes – the result should not hold us back from celebrating the satisfaction derived from the effort.

Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory – Mahatma Gandhi quotes

Full Effort is full victory

Now, this is a slightly harder one to fathom. I don’t know how I’d be able to justify the definition of victory when I don’t get the result that I want. However, a victory is also fleeting. It might appear to be the biggest thing at a certain timeline. However, as time passes, this victory or failure will only appear as a blip and we move on from it much quicker than we presume. The sadness or disappointment we have about not getting something defines our perspectives and future approaches. I may even argue that some failures are necessary to achieve something different than what we’d initially thought. (How to make it through failure and disappointment)

Full effort is full victory in the sense that we know to have done our best. If there was nothing else we could do, then we are left with defining what to do with the results we get. Our laments occur when we do disservice in the effort. The only job we have is to do the best that we can and remind ourselves that satisfaction lies in the effort.