Lean Quote: There Are No Shortcuts to Success

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"There is no shortcut to perfection. All it takes is hard work, and more hard work."   —  Author: Kim Jong-hyun

So many people are in such a hurry to success that they eagerly take any shortcuts that come across their way. In reality, shortcuts usually lead to disappointments rather than quicker success. The key to any long-term success is to take the necessary steps to steadily progress rather than skip any of them.

Many people look at successful people and assume that it was easy or they just got lucky. Believe me, it is rare to find an individual that tells you they just happened to fall upon it. Success takes having the right mental attitude and a lot of hard work. 

Some people want quick success and they eagerly welcome any shortcut they can find. It is true that you will get a rare quick win, but when you look at the most successful people in life, you’ll find that theirs was not built on shortcuts. Let me encourage you to read biographies about successful people. You will be amazed what many of them went through to get to the level they wanted to achieve.

It’s going to take a lot of grinding day in and day out. You will experience setbacks, obstacles, and a lot of failures. You will be rejected but no matter what, never give up. If you want true success, you have to be willing to do what most people don’t want to do. That means early mornings and, often, late nights. There will be sacrifices. It’s not going to be easy but I promise you that it definitely is worth it.

It’s also important to have a plan. Don’t just drift in life and expect good things to happen. Set milestones, set some crazy goals, and simply go forward and don’t look back. Remember, this is a marathon and not a sprint. The road will be filled with many obstacles and detours, just make sure that you work through them. Make the decision to make it happen.

Success involves taking risks. It’s better to try, fail, and learn from your failure rather than to regret not trying at all. There are no epic failures, only epic learns. Whenever you stumble, dust yourself off and keep going. If you want success, ultimately you make the final decision on what’s going to happen.

You can spend so much energy trying to find a shortcut to success only to realize that success requires hard work. And without it you will never get there. The sooner you realize it, the faster you’ll reach your goals.