Engage With Exponential Effort

Two Core Abilities for Thriving in the New Economy.
1. The ability to quickly master hard things. 2. The ability to produce at an elite level, in terms of both quality and speed.
― Cal Newport

Mastering the hard things is….wait for it…. hard. And to not only master the hard things, but to master them quickly takes tremendous energy and focus. Achieving this type of rapid progress down the hard path is going to cause you unusual levels of pain and suffering. If it comes easily, then it’s not really a hard thing.

Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, has built one of the most impactful companies on the planet. This clip from his interview at Stanford earlier this year is a remarkable 100 second masterclass on the importance of resilience, suffering and ultimate greatness.

1). Keep Your Expectations in Check
The higher your expectations, the less likely you are to do the tedious, boring and painful things that are often necessary for massive success. Let go of your prior expectations and preconceptions and focus on the work you need to do.

2). Aim For Character, Not Smartness
“Greatness comes from character and character isn't formed out of smart people. It's formed out of people who suffered.” In other words - spend more time building your tenacity and less time trying to become the smartest person in the room.

3). Don’t Shy Away from Pain and Suffering
It’s not surprising that we tend to avoid pain and suffering. However, if you want to build character and strive for success, pain and suffering should be signposts towards success - not obstacles to avoid at all cost.

Finally, remember that resilience and suffering are not the end goal, but instead, doing the hard things provides the foundation for you to quickly and consistently create and deliver great things into the world!