Are You Truly Trying? Or Just Hoping? How to Stop Settling and Start Moving Mountains
- peter gagliardo
- 20 hours ago
- 6 min read

It hit her like a lightning bolt.
Lou was talking to her mentor about a house she didn’t get. A dream she had chased… but not fully caught.
She was swirling in disappointment when her mentor asked her a question that landed like a punch to the chest:
“Are you settling… or did you move mountains?”
And just like that, the fog cleared.
Because when you really think about it, most people have no idea what trying actually looks like.
They think trying means a couple Google searches.
Watching a few YouTube videos.
Maybe throwing in a half-hearted journal entry before bed.
They confuse dabbling with devotion.
Here’s the truth:
If you can’t count your efforts in the hundreds…you’re not actually trying.
And no judgment, this isn’t about shame.
It’s about clarity.
Because when something really matters, when your heart’s on the line, when the dream is non-negotiable, you trade sleep for strategy. You find energy you didn’t know existed. You merge with the falcon world, becoming relentless, focused, and absolutely unwilling to settle.
We don’t rise by hoping.
We rise by repetition.
By bold, uncomfortable, deliberate action—over and over again.
So let me ask you the same question Lou was asked…and let it echo:
👉 Are you settling?
Or are you moving mountains?
The Illusion of Effort—When “Trying” Is Just Tapping the Glass
Most people think they’re trying.
But what they’re actually doing… is circling the goal with one finger pressed lightly against the glass—tapping, peeking in, waiting to be invited inside.
They don’t realize they’re locked out by their own hesitation.
Not by fate. Not by lack of talent.
But by a nervous system that’s afraid of really wanting something it might not get.
So we settle.
We say things like:
“Oh, maybe it wasn’t meant to be.”
“I gave it my best.”
But did we?
Or did we Google it once, watch a couple videos, journal when we remembered—and call that ambition?
Most people aren't lazy.
They’re constrained by invisible ceilings on what they think effort looks like.
And worse, what they believe they’re allowed to give.
Because giving everything to something? That makes it real. That makes failure personal.
So instead, we half-try… and half-try again.
It’s a nervous system defense: Don’t go all in. You might get hurt.
But ironically, this self-protection causes more pain than it prevents.
👉 Because the truth is: you’ve got more to trade than you think.
But if the trade’s never made clear, you’ll keep undervaluing your own potential.
Imagine someone told you the person you love most would die unless you found a way.
The amount of energy, creativity, and persistence you’d summon?
Unstoppable.
That version of you exists now.
They’re just sleeping beneath a thin blanket of doubt, distraction, and diluted dreams.
It’s time to wake them up.
Because you don’t need motivation—you need clarity on what it really means to try like it matters.
Try Like Someone’s Life Depends on It (Because Yours Does)
There’s a version of you that would never settle.
They don’t hesitate.
They don’t Google it “when they have time.”
They train like it’s sacred.
Because to them—it is.
Here’s the reframe:
What if trying didn’t mean “giving it a shot”?
What if trying meant giving it your life force?
Not your leftover energy.
Not the 30 minutes after the kids are asleep and you’re half-scrolling TikTok.
I mean the kind of effort that carves time from places you didn’t know had space.
The kind that looks dramatic from the outside—but feels aligned from within.
We’ve been taught to avoid looking obsessed.
But obsession is just devotion without apology.
👉 Most people don’t burn out because they try too hard.
They burn out because they stay stuck in limbo—half-in, half-out, always second-guessing.
And the nervous system hates that indecision.
It’s like revving the engine without ever moving the car.
But when you decide—truly decide—you stop leaking energy.
You start moving with purpose.
You shift from “I hope it happens” to “I’m building it now.”
You are not someone who settles.
You are someone who moves mountains.
You don’t wait for a sign.
You become one.
That’s the identity you’re stepping into.
Not just a doer. Not just a dreamer.
A relentless force in alignment with what matters most.
And when that shift happens?
Trying becomes transformation.
5 Steps to Reclaim Relentless Effort
This isn’t about hustle culture.
It’s about sacred effort.
The kind that doesn’t come from fear or ego, but from alignment.
From knowing what you want… and finally giving it everything you’ve got.
Here’s how to shift from half-trying to mountain-moving:
1. Make the Trade Explicit
Don’t just say you want it—define what you’re willing to trade for it.
Time? Comfort? The opinion of others?
Clarity creates commitment.
“When you know what you’re trading, effort becomes sacred, not scary.”
2. Obsess Intelligently
Obsession isn’t the enemy.
Directionless effort is.
Set up rituals. Track your reps. Map your actions daily.
Channel your intensity like a laser, not a floodlight.
3. Multiply Your Reps
If you haven’t done it 100 times, you haven’t done it.
Try again. Then again. Then again.
Effort compounds like interest—until one day, the results catch up all at once.
Repetition is the gatekeeper to mastery.
4. Anchor in Identity
Say it:
“I am someone who follows through. I outwork my fear. I finish what I start.”
When the identity is installed, the behavior becomes automatic.
Effort flows when who you are aligns with what you want.
5. Audit Your Inputs
You can’t pour devotion into your goals while binging distraction.
Replace the scroll with strategy.
Replace “someday” with “schedule it.”
Build an environment where effort becomes the easy default.
From Half-In to All-In — Marcus’s Turning Point
Marcus used to say he was trying.
He’d read the books. Jot down some goals. Tell friends he was “working on it.”But weeks would pass… and nothing really moved.
When we first spoke, he said, “I just don’t get why it’s not working.
”But the truth was written all over his schedule.
The dream got his leftovers—not his leadership.
So I asked him the same question Lou’s mentor asked:
“Are you settling… or are you moving mountains?”
And it hit him.
He’d never really defined what trying meant to him.
So how could he know if he was doing enough?
That day, Marcus changed everything.
He started tracking reps—actual measurable actions toward his goal.
He traded in 30 minutes of nightly scrolling for 30 minutes of skill-building.
He created a non-negotiable morning ritual.
He gave up being comfortable… and finally got serious about being committed.
Six weeks later, he launched his side business—something he’d talked about for years.
And he messaged me with this:
“It was never about motivation. It was about calling myself out. I’m not dabbling anymore—I’m all in.”
Marcus didn’t get superpowers.
He just stopped mistaking intention for action.
Because the moment you start treating your dream like it’s already yours, you begin showing up like the version of you who deserves it.
And that version of you?
They’re closer than you think.
Dr. Peter Gagliardo on Why Most People Don’t Try Hard Enough (And How to Change That)
Dr. Peter Gagliardo has seen it again and again:
Smart, capable people who keep saying “I’m trying”, but deep down, they know they’re not all in.
“Trying isn’t about intensity. It’s about integrity,” Dr. Gagliardo explains.
“It’s whether your daily actions match your deepest desires.”
As a therapist and hypnosis expert who’s worked with thousands of clients, Dr. Gagliardo helps people uncover the unconscious blocks that keep them from giving full effort.
Here’s why most people think they’re trying, but aren’t:
Their nervous system is still in protection mode
They fear what real effort means if it doesn’t work
They’ve never defined success clearly enough to commit fully
At Worcester Holistic Health & Wellness, the solution is always holistic:
✅ Hypnosis for rewiring the unconscious mind
✅ CBT and strategic coaching to break down resistance into doable steps
✅ Identity work to align effort with who you're becoming—not who you've been
The shift isn’t just in behavior.
It’s in how you see yourself.
“When your identity shifts from hopeful to committed,” Dr. Gagliardo says,
“your energy, focus, and emotional stamina follow. That’s when momentum explodes.”
Your Mountain Is Waiting — Don’t Just Want It, Work It
Let’s be honest.
Most people won’t move mountains—not because they can’t, but because they never decided to.
They confuse interest with commitment.
They confuse dabbling with doing.
And they never stop to ask the question that could change everything:
Am I settling… or am I showing up like it matters?
But you?
You’re not most people.
You wouldn’t still be reading this if there wasn’t something in you ready to rise.
This is your line in the sand.
Your wake-up call.
Your moment to trade hesitation for hunger.
Because effort is sacred.
Your dream is sacred.
And the version of you who gets to live it?
They’re just one decision—and 100 reps—away.
So try again.
Try harder.
Try like your life depends on it…Because the life you want does.
If you’re ready to stop circling your goals and start claiming them—If you’re done settling and ready to move mountains—
Let’s build the version of you who finishes what they start.