When essayist Laurence Hutton was a boy, he met British novelist William Makepeace Thackeray (author of "Vanity Fair" and other books) and had an encounter that profoundly impacted his life. Thackeray asked Hutton what he wanted to be when he grew up, and Hutton replied, "A farmer." Thackeray’s apparent response was this piece of wisdom. Hutton tried his best to fulfill that advice, and we should, too. It doesn’t matter what you do in life; what matters is striving for excellence in any task, big or small, because the effort itself can be the greatest reward.