Somebody quiet is watching you and deciding whether trying is worth it. Give them a good answer.

You are part of somebody’s evidence about whether effort is worth it, usually without knowing who or when. Quiet people watch closely and rarely mention it. What they take from you is not your results but whether you kept going and whether you were decent while you did.

Assume a younger or newer person is paying attention this week. Let them see you struggle openly and carry on anyway, which is far more useful to them than watching you succeed. And when you spot one of them trying, say something, because a sentence from you weighs more than you think.