Celebrate The Effort

Separate the effort from the outcome and celebrate what matters… 

What A Beautiful Miss! 

My five year old son blew my mind with something he said recently.

He has been getting more and more into playing football over the past year – an interest that was definitely boosted by the recent (2026) World Cup. 

And he’s actually getting quite good for his age. To the point where, when we’re playing together and he’s taking shots while I’m in the goal, he will often hit the very corners of the goal with beautiful strikes that are hand-on-heart impossible for me to save. 

– And when he makes those sensational goals, I will often say to him: ‘Wow, what a beautiful goal!’, genuinely amazed by his skills. 

Or, if the ball hits right outside of the goal, I might say: ‘Oh, so close!’, and encourage him to try again. 

But recently, out of nowhere, whenever he would just barely miss a shot he started saying ‘Oh, what a beautiful miss!’. – With the same amount of enthusiasm as if he had scored. 

And that made me pause and think. 

– What a beautiful way to approach life. 

To celebrate all of your efforts. Winning or losing, scoring or missing – just celebrating that you get to play and that you get to improve.

The Viking Row

Going back to the 2026 World Cup, Norway had a pretty legendary campaign that went viral across social media. 

They made it to the Quarter-finals for the first time ever, and although they didn’t win the World Cup, the team and the fans made a wonderful (and hopefully lasting) impact on the event by being great sports and by bringing amazing vibes the whole way through. 

Norway Fans Bring the Viking Row Everywhere!

The World Cup campaign didn’t end with a ‘beautiful goal’ or a gold trophy for the Norwegian team, but the campaign sure was a beautiful miss. A genuinely great effort to be proud of. 

And even though the team didn’t make it further in the tournament, the fans continued to rally behind them after the loss of their final match: 

Norwegian football team receive heroes' welcome on return home from World Cup

Because it wasn’t really seen as a failure – one loss didn’t negate the hard work it took to get them as far as they got. Rather, it was seen as an amazing effort from both the team and the fans, and a great World Cup experience. 

It was all about celebrating genuine effort. 

That is, the effort was separated from the outcome. The journey (and the company along the way) was more important than the destination. 

A Mourned Death Celebrated Life

A few years ago, a friend of mine from university tragically passed away. 

And some time after, his mother posted the painful news on his account on Facebook. The comments were filled with messages of grief. Hundreds of condolences, exclusively sad in tone. 

Instead, I decided to write one about what a good person he was, with some examples of the great times we had together. A single, positive message in the sea of sadness. 

His mother really appreciated that. She even reached out and asked me if they could read that message at his funeral. To celebrate his life as well, instead of only grieving his death – to focus on his efforts and not the outcome. 

I think we should celebrate more in life. Big events, or small. We should celebrate life. We should celebrate our active participation and genuine efforts in this life. Because there is always something good to be found, even in bad situations. 

Instead of worrying so much about outcomes, I think we should focus on enjoying – and celebrating – our efforts. 

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