The most misleading lie: “Work smart, not hard”

Gurus want you to work smarter, not harder, which is usually just a sugar coated way of saying “Don’t work so hard, take the easy path, and I have the easy path to sell you.” This is compelling for most lazy people, and does seem to have a ring of truth.

Here’s the reality, the hard work usually stays the same no matter what, but what changes is whether the work produces results quickly, and/or whether the work is more physically taxing vs mentally taxing.

Either way, you’re working hard.

Working smart just means you’re working hard, likely more mentally than physically, and getting results faster than JUST blindly “working hard” can do.

The person “working smart” is actually working just as hard as someone “working smart.”

Working smart is just a way people like to rationalize being lazy and trying to find the easy way to do something. Sometimes, there ARE easy ways to do something, but when you stack 100 easy methods on top of each other at the same time, it starts to feel hard again, so it still feels like working hard, but hopefully, the results come faster than if you simply worked hard alone.

Stop taking the easy route and take the fast route. The shortcut that sounds easier is likely a scam. The shortcut that sounds harder is likely the truth.

Unsuccessful people want the path that’s fast and easy, successful people search for the path that’s fast and difficult. – Truthcake

What things have you been doing that you told yourself was working “smart” but really it was just a clever way to not admit that you were trying to take the easy path, and what should be you be doing instead to get results?