I’m back again writing another article based on the wisdom I’ve gained from Jeff Haden’s amazing book, “The Motivation Myth.” If you missed my previous article, you can read it here.
This concept is not a new or revolutionary one, but it still strikes me as important given our world today.
Haden reminds us that there are no shortcuts to success. These days, we’re all obsessed with “hacks,” those tiny tricks to make life and work easier. These little gimmicks tell us we can reduce the time and effort it takes to achieve our goals by doing one ridiculously simple thing.
But, according to the author, there is no way to shortcut complex things, like learning a new skill or achieving a large goal. There is no substitute for time and effort. “Hacks” only work for simple tasks. Need an easy trick to organize your workspace fast? No problem. But you can’t rely on that kind of thing when your goal is to achieve a promotion or master a new software system.
So many of us are impatient—I know I am! And we all want things to be easy. After all, we have a lot on our plates and only so much time, energy and attention to distribute around.
When it comes to achieving goals, we have to be careful about these natural tendencies. Impatience, to a certain degree, can help light a fire under us. And of course, we want to use our resources wisely. But these feelings can also be counterproductive.
We have to be realistic about how long things will take, and we have to be honest about the effort required. We can’t buy into the idea that there’s a way to cheat the system. There isn’t. Believing some secret passageway exists and all we have to do is find it will only set us up for disappointment. [Read more…] about There Are No Shortcuts to Success