This Month’s Message: Work with Sincerity

Oyasama says:

“Work on top of work, saying to yourself, ‘Just a little more, just a little bit more’; this is not greed, it is work that comes from true sincerity.”
Anecdotes of Oyasama, no. 111

If a baseball player consistently has two hits in five at-bats for a .400 average, he will be a star player. Yet, if the player has just one hit in five at-bats for a .200 average, he may not be able to play for his team next season. The difference is only one hit.

When given ten units of work, some people expend only nine units of effort by cutting corners as they try to get away with doing as little as possible. Despite originally having the ability to handle ten units of work, they may eventually find themselves only capable of handling nine units of work.

On the other hand, when given ten units of work, some people put in eleven units of effort trying to attain the best possible results using their ingenuity. Someday, these people will probably become capable of handling eleven units of work.

The former type of people expend only one unit less effort, and the latter only one unit more. Yet the difference is two units. The former, who try to avoid efforts, are likely to lose their customers and get less and less work. The latter, who put in extra effort, may gain new customers and receive more and more work.

In our lives, even large differences may result from the accumulation of small differences.

Our sincerity is certainly accepted by Oyasama, who watches over us and is even aware of our casual uses of the mind in our lives.

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