Stop ‘Preparing’ and Do The Real Thing
How you’re strategically avoiding the important work that will lead to success
Success largely boils down to one piece of advice: Do the real thing. But people keep finding ingenious ways to do anything but.
A few years ago, I wrote a book called Ultralearning. Since then, I’ve received many emails from people trying to learn new things. One woman recently wrote to me saying she turned down a job working in French. She didn’t feel her French was good enough yet. So instead, she planned to listen to podcasts at home every day until she was ready.
You know what would have helped her get good at French? Working in French.
Another man I spoke with wanted to get better at writing music, so he came up with a plan: He would do a deep-dive analysis on past hits and try to figure out what made them great. But in all this complexity, he ignored the obvious, real thing he could have been doing all along: writing songs.
There are people everywhere occupying themselves with alternatives to the real thing. Business owners who spend more time designing their email signature than finding clients. Students who create elaborate multicolored folders for their classes instead of sitting down and studying. People who want to become healthier but…
