This is such a trend lately – every advertisement or online post is Five Quick Ways to XYZ. We are constantly pitched a cheat code or a hack or a quick way to circumvent hard work in order to get the outcome we desire.

The reality is that the outcome isn’t nearly as desirably if we haven’t put in the effort. We can’t hack our way to satisfaction. If something is easy we don’t value it. We’re looking for magic pills and shortcuts instead of making real change to be able to accomplish things.

Effort is how we get where we want to be. We’re skipping the 98% and shooting for the 2% like that’s going to be the magical cure-all. Instead of adjusting our calorie intake and exercising, we decide to only eat during a six-hour window or remove carbohydrates. Instead of doing research and thoroughly understanding a subject we watch a couple YouTube videos and are now experts. Instead of practicing the thing we want to get better at we buy gimmicky equipment that fix our poor form or require less effort from us to get the same outcome.

The real answer is we have to find the effort. For real change to be made and habits to be formed, we have to dig within ourselves and make adjustments. Quick-fix solutions don’t force us to change or learn. They give us the what without teaching us the why. We lose weight because of a meal delivery service but then don’t have the tools to figure out a healthy diet for ourselves. We join a 30 day fitness challenge but then don’t have the self discipline to continue working out once no one is watching. We follow a quick tutorial but then don’t know how to leverage that entry-level knowledge into the next level skill.

We have to start putting in real effort. Plodding along day in and day out towards progress. Prolonged and sustained effort. That’s how real change happens. It’s not from 30 days of taking a supplement and it’s not from 60 days of delivered food and it’s not from watching a YouTube video a couple times. We learn and grow by doing.

So we have to go and do. If you want to get better at running, you have to run. If you want to be better in relationships, you have to go interact with people. If you want to lose weight you have to take in fewer calories than you expend for a prolonged period of time. If you want to learn a skill you have to go practice the new thing.

Go. Do. Focus on the boring, obvious things first. Once you’ve mastered the basic then you may get some use out of the “tricks” and “hacks”. But you can’t hack your way to a better life. You have to put in the effort first.