On Life Hacks and Being a Pro
Confession: I really like YouTube. I’ve learned a ton from it. I’ve also wasted an embarrassing number of hours watching videos that promised to make me better at something… fast.
To say YouTube loves promoting shortcuts and life hacks would be like saying coffee helps me function. Technically true. Not even close to capturing the full intensity of the relationship.
The titles are always some variation of:
- “Master X in 30 days”
- “I learned Y in a weekend (and you can too)”
- “The ONE trick pros don’t want you to know”
I’ve clicked on plenty of them. Especially the cycling ones. “Get faster in two weeks.” Yes please. Sign me up. (Spoiler: I didn’t get faster.)
I’m not mad at the creators. They’re playing the game. Those titles and hooks work-they get views. They also point at something uncomfortable about us: we want the payoff of being good, without the cost.
The whole thing is “the boring part”
Most of us are wired for efficiency. We like leverage. We look for opportunities to optimize. We aim to find the fastest way.
There’s nothing wrong with any of that…until it turns into a fantasy that there’s hidden path somewhere-a hack, a system, a secret-that lets you skip the reps.
Whether it’s writing, lifting, riding, coding, leadership, whatever: the people who are legitimately really good at what they do, the ones who really resonate, all tend to have the same backstory:
They showed up most days. They did the work. They did it for a long time. They’re pros.
What’s a pro?
When I say “pro” I don’t mean “you get paid.” I mean “you take the craft seriously. You do the work even when you don’t feel like it. You don’t need a fresh wave of motivation to start.”
Pros also don’t spend all day negotiating with themselves in the pre-work mental horror show. (Or if they do, they still start anyway.)
A pro is just someone who has made a long-term commitment and then honors it on most days.
And the work itself is… shockingly normal:
- Fundamentals.
- The boring thing you’re bad at.
- Steady effort (no hero-ball required).
- Systems that make it easier to show up tomorrow.
Turning pro
Steven Pressfield calls it “turning pro.” The moment you stop dabbling and start treating the work like the work.
Later comes the deeper shift: the work stops being the price you pay for a future identity and becomes the reward itself. You embrace the themes of: -Consistency over intensity -Commitment over hacks -Taking the work seriously instead of taking yourself seriously
At the start, you show up because you want the rewards for the work. When you turn pro, you show up because you love the work. And the process.
The “real” secret
There is no real secret. The only “hack” I’ve found for being a pro at something is advice that almost no one really wants to hear:
Show up most days. Do a reasonable amount of work with focus and intention. Repeat for a long time. You don’t need heroics and life hacks. You need continuity. You need systems that help you to show up and stay at it. You need to have intimacy and closeness with the craft so you learn to love it.
Bottom line: The algorithm will always sell you the shortcut. The craft only rewards the boring stuff. Show up, do the work, repeat-until it’s “just what you do”.