In July 2020 (in the midst of the RMCO), I picked up Tennis. It wasn’t an easy sport to master and even with off and on weekly sessions over nearly a year – today, I’m still very much a below-average player.

And that’s development works.

In all of life, there are sequential stages of growth. A child first learns to crawl, then stand, walk, run and jump.

Yet in business – we look for shortcuts and hacks, hoping to skip over the natural growth process to get what we desire, faster. Here are some common shortcuts:

• …and this ‘mindset shift’ helped us grow our revenue by 10X!
• …with this secret ‘marketing framework’, we increased our sales during the crisis.
• …get more clients with this POWER ABCK social media formula.

And what happens when we try to shortcut a natural growth process?

If you are an average-only tennis player and choose to play with a bunch of professionals to make a better impression, what will happen?

Would a mindset shift or secret framework, help you compete against a professional?

Will you be able to trick your friends to watch you play the piano in a concert hall when you only started learning the piano 6 months ago?

It’s quite obvious that there are no shortcuts.

Attempting to hack and skip through the natural growth process would only bring disappointment.

Embrace the growth process.

Life is tough and our brains are wired to avoid pain. That is why you see people chasing shortcuts and shiny objects, hoping to relieve their pain quickly – even if they don’t realize it.

The first step to embracing growth is to have self-awareness.

Be aware when you’re being seduced to another shortcut or promise. Know that for every success story you see on social media, there are countless hours of work, perspiration, and sacrifices that were not published.