When Simple Meets Impossible

For some reason, eventualities usually come with a clause attached to them.

For example, they will say something like you will succeed as long as you keep putting in the work or you'll find happiness if you follow your passion.

I think for the logical mind, this is pretty much straightforward. There's a thread to follow that's easily trackable and reassuring.

If A, then B. If consistent effort, then success. If persistence, then breakthrough.

The formula appears mathematically sound.

In another sense, such kind of eventualities bring a simplistic overview and approach to the whole success journey, provided of course what one wants to succeed at is already clear enough.

Complex, multi-layered processes are reduced into digestible cause-and-effect relationships.

Never quit and you'll eventually win is another example.

I know it sounds like a clause inside another clause. Conditional statements often shield away much of the nuances from the actual journey.

Such as the moments when "putting in the work" feels like pushing water uphill, so to speak.

Some of it is necessary, as it is more practical to operate with simplified frameworks than to be paralyzed by every possible variable.

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We need these mental shortcuts to take action at all. Without them, we'd most likely be lost in analysis paralysis, weighing infinite possibilities instead of moving forward.

For Good Reason

Having the end in mind even before the start begins takes a lot of courage despite the inherent risk of also creating a tunnel vision.

For me, the latter is viewed as the cost of reducing course corrections available along the way.

Somehow, it crossed my mind that this is how I used to generally view personal relationships, especially in terms of expecting linear progress and predictable outcomes.

I approached them with the same conditional logic: if I'm kind and consistent, then people will respond positively.

Or if I invest enough time and energy, then deep connections will naturally form.

The obvious reality is that relationships are messy, unpredictable, and rarely follow the neat formulas we create for them.

No wonder I didn't made much progress on that front from that naïve perspective.

I've been waiting for the formula to work as advertised instead of just embracing the uncertainty and complexity that make relationships real and perhaps, meaningful.

In theory, most worthwhile pursuits are simple.
Lose weight? Eat less, move more.
Build a business? Create value, serve customers.
Develop relationships? Be genuine, show up consistently.
Write a book? Sit down and write every day.

Simple is piggybacking on hard, in practice.

It's like simple can't reach a destination without hard carrying it there when it comes to execution.

The gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it consistently, day after day, through setbacks and plateaus, is where most dreams eventually go to die.

Gaps are meant to be filled, although this one is vast enough that it requires more than just the willpower of small, consistent steps to cross.


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