Yep. Same vibe as old legends about the glory of battle. They exist because the most powerful people are trying to motivate cannon fodder.

You see the personal impact of success in whatever environment exaggerated for similar reasons. For example, good grades worth something, and doing either really badly or better than average has consequences, but there’s diminishing returns on very high or low levels beyond that. From what I’ve seen in my life, nepotism, luck, schmoozing skills and the right temperament are all worth substantially more than crazy high grades. That is not what I was told and believed in school.

When I was in college, it was very clear to me who wanted to or actually felt a need to be there and the people who were there because they were expected to. The people who didn’t really want to be there simply went through the motions, did the bare minimum for whatever situation they were in, and immediately fucked off because they did what they showed up to do. Their goal wasnt to be there, ot was to get through being there so they could do what they actually wanted to. The people who were actually invested in being there put in the effort and did extra stuff to ensure their success. They formed study groups, watched some YouTube videos on fuzzy topics, talked to each other about the material, went over sample tests, etc. Their time after class wasn’t the left-overs they had from their time at school, it was a resource to use to make their time at school better. Because school itself was actually their focus.

When I see statements like “Give it your all,” that’s where my mind goes. It tells me to not just go through the motions and expect true success at the other side. That shit takes work and dedication of time and energy. Not necessarily all of it to the point that you’re damaging your health, but that is often where it ends up. And it’s hard not to end up there if you compare yourself to others and feel a need to keep up to unrealistic standards.

In short, to me it means to actually apply your time and effort into it. Be invested in how well you do and what you can learn.

Pretty much. It means give maximum output, which can easily be over 100%.

And that means burn out

Depends on context, but it usually means give it your absolute best, ‘don’t leave anything out there’.

It can simply mean don’t slack.

I don’t think it usually means ‘do this to the obvious detriment of your health’.

Thinking about tropes is secretly the quickest way to get burned-out