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The Anomalous RAP Podcast is the companion guide to the Anomalous RAP Archive โ a space where hip-hop, story, and philosophy collide.
Here, I reveal the thoughts behind my creative process, unpack the meaning in my verses, and explore the ideas that shaped both the art and the artist.
Sometimes itโs a short reflection, sometimes a long breakdown, sometimes a dialogue with others โ but every episode connects back to the Archive and the code it represents.
๐ Explore AnomalousRapArchive.com โ home to the music, stories, documents, and philosophy behind this Anomalous movement.
Itโs also your direct line for sharing reflections, ideas, or questions by recording a voice message.
Join the conversation, and you may hear your words โ in your own voice โ featured in a future episode.
Welcome to the Anomalous RAP Podcast. I am Andrew, the Anomalous One. And today, I wanna explore the idea of what effort is and how to decide if something is actually worth the effort. This started when I heard someone who thought they were being helpful say, a little effort goes a long way, followed by hard work pays off. Meanwhile, I'm rolling my eyes at the whole thing.
Andrew:It got me thinking about why those two phrases irritate me so much. I think it's because they're misleading and incomplete. They're thought fragments that leave out the most important part because they don't actually tell us where that effort is taking us or what the payoff is supposed to be. They make it sound like if we just keep grinding or pushing, we'll eventually hit our goals and get the prize we deserve. But that's just not true.
Andrew:That's not how effort works at all. We can spend endless amounts of effort on a goal and still never reach it. That's why we ask, is this really worth the effort? The fact that we use the word worth proves that we know we're making a trade. That we understand we are exchanging our time and energy for something else.
Andrew:I like to think of time and energy like cash in a bank account. Every single thing we do is spending from those accounts. Some things are essentially free, so we don't worry about them because they're quite literally effortless. But other things, they require a massive investment of our limited time and energy. That's what effort really is, an investment of time and energy.
Andrew:The trap happens on the back end where we expect our hard work to pay off. Every time we put effort into something, it's a gamble. It's a calculated risk we take just to get the chance at a specific outcome. That's why hard work pays off is such a misleading phrase. It promises a guarantee that doesn't exist.
Andrew:Working harder might increase our odds, but it can never guarantee we'll win. Just look at sports, music, or any other skilled trade. Someone can spend years, decades training, practicing, proving their skill and worth. They can become exceptional among their peers or within their industry, but that still doesn't guarantee they'll get drafted to the pros or be able to pay their rent with their art or get a promotion at work. If we only spend our effort to get an external reward like someone else's validation or a trophy or a title, we're setting ourselves up for disappointment.
Andrew:Why? Because we cannot control how other people react to our effort. And when we get disappointed, the bitterness kicks in. We start feeling like we're owed something because we were told hard work pays off and we put the work in. So if we don't get the payment, we feel cheated.
Andrew:Like we were robbed of time and energy that we can never get back. But in reality, we weren't cheated because the world doesn't owe us anything. We cannot control how others respond to our effort or if they'll even notice it. Let's look at the best case scenario. What if we do win the gamble?
Andrew:What if we are finally given the promotion, the title, the recognition, or the validation we were grinding for? We're ecstatic. Right? We feel fully validated, ready to bask in the glory of our awesomeness. We finally made it.
Andrew:But if we needed someone else to give it to us, then that means someone else can also take it away. A company can lay us off. An audience can forget about us. A title can be stripped. If the external reward was the only thing we were in it for, then who are we when it's gone?
Andrew:So we have to change what we expect in return. In this scenario, we were just basking in the glory of our awesomeness and losing the title, that doesn't change our level of awesomeness. All the things that were true about us in that moment, the things that make us awesome, they still exist if the title is stripped. If we let any external reward become our identity, then we are signing up for a world of hurt. Our awesomeness is not the result of a title.
Andrew:Our awesomeness is the totality of the internal things that led us toward it. The things that no one can take from us. Skill mastery creativity, critical thinking, adaptability, determination, resilience, mental fortitude, emotional intelligence, perspective, integrity, self reliance, self respect, pride. Those are the payouts for our effort. Those are the things that make the effort worth it, the internal gains.
Andrew:When our identity is rooted there, those phrases we started with actually start to make sense. Suddenly, a little effort goes a long way is true because even a small amount of daily effort goes a long way toward building our skill and sharpening our mind and hard work pays off finally stops being a lie. Because the hard work does pay off immediately 100% of the time directly into our own personal growth and character. If we grind for ten thousand hours just to get a title and then we don't get it, we lost. But if we grind for ten thousand hours to become undeniable at what we do, we win.
Andrew:We walk away exceptional whether anyone else notices or not. So these internal gains have to be valued higher than the external. We have to accept them as our actual return for the time and energy we invested and view any external success as just a bonus if it shows up at all. Because when we realize that the real payment happens internally, the second we do the work, it doesn't matter if the external rewards come, go, or never show up at all. We already took our profit.
Andrew:One more thing. I think it's clear that we should not expect external validation, but that's also the exact reason that we should practice it. Because most people are spending more effort than anyone ever notices, and a little validation might give them the energy that they need to get through the day. Anyways, those are my thoughts about effort and what makes it worth it, but I wanna hear yours. What are your internal returns?
Andrew:What are you investing your effort in right now that's worth the cost even if no one ever claps for you? Leave a voice message at anomalous rap archive dot com. Links are in the show notes. Until then, I just wanna say I appreciate you being here, and thank you for listening.