Hacks work
Only that the ones that work aren’t as fun as we expect them to be.
They are simple. Too simple, often. But they aren’t fun. They require from us effort. They nudge us to do the work we are proud of. To lead a life worth living.
Here are some hacks I've found that work:
Compounding for a long, long time brings the most valuable returns. This applies to relationships, finances, and almost all areas of life. Truncate the compounding at your detriment.
Show up and do what you need to do. No gimmick. No shortcut. Get rich quick and get better quick schemes aren't sustainable. After a boost, if at all, you return to the mean.
Don't just do the work, try to get slightly better than your last attempt. Growing faster doesn't always mean better. You can choose what works. They aren't mutually exclusive.
Feedback loops work. Especially when you find the cadence that suits you. Works with mentorship and most forms of relationships.
'Values over valuation' has a clarity function. It’s the ‘one-click’ reminder for making the right decision.
Knowing when enough is enough. I agree that one of the hardest financial skills is getting the goalpost to stop moving. Else, it's never enough.
Most things work. If something isn't working yet, it's because we haven't found a way around it. It didn't work ≠ it doesn't work. On the flip side, knowing when to let go is an important hack.
The energy spent thinking of an excuse and crafting your defence may generate a better ROI if you invest it in taking action to make things better.
Out of sight often work. The reverse is true: the more visible it is, the more we are prone to engage. Want to engage more with something? Bring it within sight. Want to engage less? Take it out of sight.1
Quit completely, don’t cut down, if drinking causes you problems. It works with anything else that looks like a vice.
Decide once > always decide. It's easier to make one-time decisions of what you’ll always do, than making that decision every other time. Decide once so you don’t always decide. Especially for the few decisions that are truly worth it.2
Someone else may call these ‘common-sense’. They are obvious. We’ve known them for so long. We’ve avoided them for so long.
When we pursue hacks that cost us nothing, we end up in alleys we’d rather avoid.
[Update 27/06/2024]: After I published this, I learnt about the Pinocchio protocol, and it fits quite well.
A friend doesn’t receive material gifts, so he doesn’t have to keep deciding where to keep gifts, or which gift to take with him when he moves from one country to another.