The lazy way to being outstanding: go after hard things., Hacker News
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When Peter Diamandis stood under the arch of Saint Louis, with astronauts behind him, he announced a a million dollar prize for developing commercial space flight.
Most of us have some innate ability that we utilize in our careers. Most of us have access to (******************************************************************************************** hours to be extraordinary. The hardest piece to arrange is asteady stream of ever-more-challenging problems to solve.
The Beatles honed their craft on the Hamburg club scene, and Bill Gates used (illegally) his school’s computer to get better at programming.
If you can go after the Elephant during your work hours, without breaking the law or going to Hamburg, then you are in a unique position!
Tackling the most challenging issues at your organization will not only result in more leeway but is themost effective way to advance your career.
Long workhas a storied history. Farmers, hunters, factory workers … Always there was the long work required to succeed. For generations, there was a huge benefit that came to those with the stamina and fortitude to do long work.(****************************************Hard workis frightening. We shy away from hard work because inherent in hard work is a risk. Hard work is hard because you might fail. You can’t fail at long work, you merely show up. You fail at hard work when you don’t make an emotional connection, or when you don’t solve the problem or when you hesitate.
The Fantastic Seth Godin. **************************************
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The Elephant – the hard workI am urging you to tackle is the task that is unknown, complex, and emotionally challenging. Your Ego can be hurt, you can be ridiculed, and you can fail. That is the hard part.
Copy-pasting spreadsheets or tackling something that should never be done in the first place is safe but tedious and time-consuming. This is dead-end, laborious, and unfulfilling work. Avoid that. Or (Automate
Once you deal with the Elephant, everybody will marvel at your skill, even if you don’t have any extraordinary talents. You have seen my drawing ability and it only goes downhill from there.
Go take that Elephant out for a walk. It’s really friendly, it really needs to pee, and the weather is beautiful out there.
Hey Fellow Hacker News reader! 👋
I think you could also enjoy my piece“Well, we have to measure something.”, And the perils of metrics.************
It shows when Quantitative metrics can sometimes not only be beneficial but sometimes turn out harmful, despite popular opinion.
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