There are two schools of thought in work. One is the “there are no shortcuts, only hard work” school. The other is the “there’s always a smarter, faster way” school.
Both are wrong. And both are right. It’s not an either/or. It’s a both/and. At the same time. Applied consistently, and correctly.
The higher the mountain in front of you, the more ambitious the goal you have in your sights, and the smaller your margin for error, the truer this becomes.
If your goal is training for a 5k, you can either “just send it” or try to biohack your way around real effort. But for an ultramarathon, that won’t work. You’ll be one giant cramped muscle curled up in the fetal position at mile 20, hungry, dehydrated, and hating life. You need an intelligent training plan, and execute on it with ruthless discipline.
If you’re an infantry recruit trying to make it through basic training, you can have a room temperature IQ, tough it out, follow orders, and graduate with a blue cord the same as everyone else. But if you’re shooting for the stars – Ranger School, sniper tryouts, or SF selection, that won’t cut it. You need all the intelligence you can muster, as well as every ounce of physical toughness you have.
Wilderness survival – fighting nature to keep humans alive – is much the same. Getting caught in freezing rain at your local park is an easy problem to solve. But getting stuck in a storm on a technical Fourteener or injured in the backwoods of Appalachia is a different game. You need to conjure up every bit of fortitude you’ve got, execute your training flawlessly, and make all the right decisions too. It all matters.
Dumbly grinding away without a solid strategy will leave you falling just as short as trying to figure out how to hack the system to find the easy way out. You do not have the luxury of inefficiency, or the time to give anything but your best effort. For the things that matter – the achievements that define you – this is the only way.
It’s heroic effort, with a plan. It’s putting in the work, and analyzing the data. It’s force of will, and sharpness of mind. Plot your route, choose the right path, carry the weight, and trudge up that long hill. It’s not “work smarter, not harder.” It’s not “there’s no substitute for hard work.” It’s both.
Smarter + harder.
