When I was a police chief, I had a small sign that hung in my office. It read:
There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.
Most everything of value in my life was the result of hard work and effort. College. Grad school. Professional promotions. My artwork. My brown belt in jujitsu.
None of these things were achieved through shortcuts. Each required years of sustained effort, sacrifices, setbacks and occasional hardships.
People often see the success in others, but not the backstory that led to it.
The internet abounds with “life hack” articles. Gurus hawk their “get rich quick” on-line courses. What you seldom see are their students actually getting rich.
Why? Because it’s hard to hack quality.
Build a brilliant destiny
Yes, there are some exceptional people out there who can accelerate their learning. Tim Ferris comes to mind.
We know that there are tips and tricks for many things, and no one wants to work harder than they have to.
Efficiency hacks here and there are fine. Anytime we can refine what we’re doing, in advancement of our goal, we can move closer to success.
However, people often pursue the path of least resistance. They embrace hacks and shortcuts in the name of expediency.
Be wary of expediency. It might make your life feel easier now, but you’ll be cheating yourself. The end result will probably fall short, and you’ll regret not doing the hard work that success usually demands.
What would your life look like if you didn’t take short cuts?
Check out these two comments from a blog post by Dan Waldschmidt:
The inherent idea that you can realize your wildest dreams without a passionate investment of mind, body, and soul is just nutty. You can’t get more from your life by doing less.”
When you slow down and cheat yourself out of the self-investment necessary to build a brilliant destiny, you just won’t ever find yourself where you want to be. To be successful, you have to work so hard your eyes have blisters. Against all odds you have keep trying — when you’re sick, when you’re broke, when you have no fans. It’s raw sweat equity.
Those six-pack abs you want aren’t going to come from a pill you saw on late-night TV.
The best selling book you want to write? It won’t come from some online writing course.
The things we deeply desire in life almost always require sustained effort and hard work. Once in a blue moon we hear about some overnight success story, but they’re rare and infrequent.
Do hard things
When I was in high school I struggled in my Algebra II class. Math just wasn’t my forte. But I hunkered down, got a tutor and worked my behind off.
I ended up with a B- in the class. It meant far more to me than some of the easier classes I received A’s in. Because there is a tremendous sense of satisfaction that comes from achievement born of hard work.
Doing hard things helps define us. It’s the challenges, sacrifices and sharp edges of life that shape us. Not the hacks, paths of least resistance and shortcuts.
The problem with the path of least resistance is that it denies us the journey. A thing of value is seldom about how fast we can get there. It should be about our personal betterment, and creating something of deep value.
A Lifehacker.com article made the following point:
Learning a new language, getting a raise, losing weight — they take work — and if you hate the work required to get to them, maybe you don’t want to do those things that badly.
There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. By all means, work smart, but don’t avoid the work. Do hard things. Put in the time, effort and sacrifice.
Your life will be more fulfilling if you focus on personal betterment and creating things of value.
Diving into hard work will more likely deliver your dreams than embracing shortcuts and taking the path of least resistance.
I’m John P. Weiss. I draw cartoons, paint landscapes and write about life. Thanks for reading!
A version of this post was previously published on Medium and is republished here with permission from the author.
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Photo credit: John P. Weiss