Did you know that giving something your all makes life easier—not harder? The more you study, the easier studying becomes.  The more you exercise, the easier exercise becomes.  And the more you run marathons, the easier marathon running becomes.

It’s not a matter of willpower.  All that willpower hype is a lie.  You don’t need the scary “willpower” word.  You just need to commit to stretching yourself until you comfortably do the extreme on a daily basis.  It becomes a rush.  Fun.  An addiction.  A skill.

Here is a quote by Jimmy Johnson that sums up giving your all: “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.”

Here’s what happens when you give your studies your all:

You heighten your self-esteem.  When you give your studies all you’ve got, your self-esteem rises, and you feel better.  The reverse is true, too.  One time, I taught fitness to a group, and three members gave up and stood against the wall.  “Don’t Quit!” I cried out.  “Quitting will make your life ten times harder!” But giving your all every chance brings you a rush of self-esteem.

You give back.  Your efforts in your studies show appreciation for all of your instructors.  Not only that, but your effort also prepares you to give back to society the knowledge you have received.  After all, knowledge is a gift to be shared.

You make big accomplishments.  The more you dedicate yourself to your studies, the greater your accomplishments.  We all would love to say, “I won scholarships,” or, “I had an A+ in that course.” But no-one loves to say, “I barely squeaked by, as I didn’t apply myself.” Giving your all leads to big wins.

You develop great habits.  When you give you studies your all, well, giving your all becomes your habit.  Giving hard effort is like a muscle you build.  If you regularly lift weights while gradually increasing your weights’ poundage, the stronger you get.  It becomes a game of constantly pushing yourself to find out how you can become marginally more and more efficient in your studies.  Thus, studying harder and harder becomes a habit.

You go gung-ho with your time.  Learn the power and the joy of tackling the hardest tasks first.  And by first, it’s meant first thing early in the morning.  It’s like the Navy Seal philosophy, I believe, that says if you make your bed first thing in the morning, it’s a quick win.  But if you condition yourself to then run one mile outdoors, you’ve now become high performance.

To be invincible at your studies, make your bed first thing, have a cold shower, and go on a three hour study binge with five-minute breaks every thirty minutes.  Exercise and eat healthy and study some more until long after the moon comes out to congratulate you.  You’ll learn how to optimize your time, especially your mornings, when you go gung-ho.

You structure your days.  You’ll learn how to start and end each day with a to-do list.  Also, you will often glean your calendar for a heads up on deadlines and commitments.  Also, you may make it practice to regularly study your class syllabus’s.  These structural skills will inevitably reap higher grades and lead to successes in the workforce.

You make your life easier.  It’s easier to give 100% than it is to give 99%, says author Jack Canfield.  With 99% we waffle, battle indecision, and don’t make the big wins that come from full-throttle commitment.  Exercising was easier for me when I did it six days a week, without fail.  Quitting caffeine was easiest when I abstained without fail.  (Recently I had two cups of green tea, and now, unlike before, I struggle to abstain whenever I smell tea, although I’m abstaining.)  Quitting sugar is easiest with 100% abstinence.  Similarly, studying eight or more hours each day is easiest when it’s 100% consistent.

So, give whatever you value 100%, whether it’s your studies, your marriage, your fitness, or all of the above and more.  After all, you deserve the life of least resistance.