wasted effort

“But by the time he had realised it, there was no turning back. He knew he was going to go all the way – so it wouldn’t turn out to be a wasted effort.”

"The Fallen Sun" is not a wasted effort, to be clear.

“That doesn’t mean he won’t try. But it is a wasted effort.”

But what was looking like a wasted effort quickly became a close call.

However, many well-intentioned people often don’t know the true causes of—and solutions to—this crisis, resulting in what’s at best wasted effort, and at worst harming what they’re trying to support.