What is going on here? And what do “they” know that helps them succeed time and time again while I race round and round the track of best intentions with no finish line in sight? You may have heard the best way to hide something is to hide it in plain sight. As it turns out, there is hidden key to success that has been right in front of our eyes all along. It’s so simple, you won’t believe it, but in the past year or so acting on this has had a tremendous impact on my results. Okay, enough teasing, let’s get to the key.
The hidden key to success is to do what is easy.
THE FAKEOUT
The reason this has been hidden is we have a bias towards hard work being the be all and end all of success. You’ve probably heard these sayings growing up.
No pain, no gain.
Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration. - Thomas Edison
“Nothing worth having comes easy.” - Theodore Roosevelt
And what images come to mind when you think of accomplishing something great?
After a while, you get the sense that if you aren’t experiencing excruciating pain and struggle, you are a slacker and not deserving of success. Okay, here is where I get to disappoint you. If you think I’m going to say you don’t need to work hard to succeed, that’s not where I’m going. And if you think I’m going to share some secret to EZ Street, you obviously don’t know how horribly bad I am with directions. Just ask my wife.
THE HIDDEN KEY
What I’m here to do is reframe the whole it’s has to be hard all the time or you’re cheating mentality. In fact, for most people, the reason they never succeed is they never even got to the hard part because they failed to do the easy thing that preceded it. In other words, the first step is usually not be a supreme test of your will and motivation. More often than not, it’s as easy as getting off the couch, making a phone call, or pressing a button.
This hard work mentality hurts us in two specific ways. First, it makes us think that every action must be hard, which I think is ridiculous. Ask anyone who has succeeded in anything. I dare you. No one, and I mean no one will tell you that it was hard all the time. Second, it stops us from taking easy first steps that get us headed in the direction of success. Let’s get back to Kilimanjaro. If you focus on the climb, you’ll never see the summit. Instead, any one of these EZPZ steps will help you more.
Get off the couch and start walking more to boost your cardio.
Call someone who has experience mountain climbing and learn from them and get excited about the prospect.
Hit a key on your computer and read an article about the basics of mountain climbing.