It's Simple, but Not Easy
As I'm trying to make my own way up in life and figure out which plans would take me to the next point in my journey the fastest, I realize that sometimes we humans have this tendency to over-fantasize about having this Golden Strategy that would allow us to leapfrog over the rest of the competition and land toes-first at the end of some magic rainbow. In our quest to optimize and squeeze the most out of every minute of our working day, most of us overlook one very simple truth, one that keeps us from achieving our dreams. The truth is, the winning strategies are downright simple. Simple enough to remember, simple enough to execute. There is no Golden Strategy. Don't overcomplicate things. The reason why not a lot of people make it big in life is that although the winning strategies can be very simple, most of us cannot give what it takes to see a simple plan through. People are so willing to spend their whole days daydreaming about strategy, but they are unwilling to do the actual hard work They are unwilling to get their hands dirty and their brows sweaty. They are unwilling to endure the discomfort of failing at first until they learn how to succeed. In their haste and impatience, they plant the seed but are unwilling to pay the time, practice patience, and see their plan through. One of my favorite quotes from Shane Parrish reads: "Success comes down to doing the obvious thing for an extraordinary period of time, without convincing yourself that you’re smarter than you think you are." Don't be an optimizer, be a maximizer.