For me, heroism is the necessity to exert extraordinary effort in order to achieve a goal. And extraordinary effort is primarily associated with sacrifice—of energy, time, health—it doesn’t matter. It’s about giving up something you wouldn’t want to give up under normal circumstances.
Sometimes, I have to be heroic at work. Do I feel proud of myself afterward? Not really. Most often, I just feel like a fool. Because I ended up in a situation that could have been solved with moderate effort, but I had to act like a hero.
Sometimes, these situations arise due to a lack of resources—which is unfortunate but unavoidable. Other times, it’s due to a lack of brains—which is just frustrating.