We’re living in a time of seductive digital promises. AI, promises to 10X your personal growth, and everywhere you turn, someone’s offering a shortcut to success: the secret get ripped formula, the proven marketing trick, the “six steps to success” that will supposedly change your life by next quarter.
You’ve seen them on LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok. You’ve probably met some of them. They come in all forms, mentors, coaches, consultants, influencers, and “evangelists”. They speak confidently, drop names, and show off a lifestyle that looks just a little too fake. They promise to help you publish a book in a month. They’re selling a dream, and they want you to believe that the only thing standing between you and success… is them.
But here’s the truth:
If it looks too good to be true, it is.
There are no shortcuts that last. Nobody can deliver you success without hard work, time, discipline and failure. The more you chase those shiny objects and trends, the further you move away from your own path to a meaningful life and success.
The hard part isn’t seeing the truth, it’s being honest with yourself about why you’re even considering these shiny options. Because often, it’s not that their offer is so convincing. It’s that your own greed or impatience is distracting you.
Let’s call a spade a spade:
Greed for quicker results.
Greed for recognition.
Greed for freedom without discipline.
Greed for ease.
Cut that part out right now. For real. Greed, especially when it hides behind words like “vision” or “ambition” is one of the most dangerous forces in any long-term project. It clouds your thinking, shortens your planning horizon, and opens you up to being used and mislead by unethical actors.
When someone shows you a fast path to wealth, status, or success, ask yourself this: What are they actually building? Because anyone who’s building something real isn’t offering quick wins. They’re heads-down. You don’t see them. They’re quiet. They’re not trying to look successful they’re becoming successful and that requires a lot of sacrifice.
If you want to build something that lasts, you have to change your approach. You have to learn how to go deep and then stay committed for the long plan, which is never less that 5 or 10 years.
The author Cal Newport calls this “Deep Work” the ability to focus without distraction on cognitively demanding tasks. He writes that in a world packed with shallow attention and superficial achievement, the ability to focus deeply has become a superpower. And he’s right. The people who are winning, really winning, aren’t the ones chasing the latest trends. They’re the ones tuning out the noise and putting in real, focused effort for years.
So if you want a foundation, build one.
Plan for ten years, not ten months.
This applies to entrepreneurs, artists, nonprofit leaders, builders, or someone just trying to make a meaningful change. Nothing great is build overnight and nobody gets rich quickly. Growth that comes too fast rarely has roots and when it comes it is filled with problems. And the people you admire most didn’t skip the hard parts, they went through them, brick by brick, failure by failure until they made it.
Here’s the hard advice:
Start where you are.
With what you have.
And do the work. Every day.
Ignore the noise.
Let others chase the easy wins.
Your life is too important to spend it chasing someone else’s fantasy.
Instead, play the long game. Stay real. And most importantly, stay true to yourself. You already know who’s fake and who isn’t. You already know which offers are empty. Don’t pretend you don’t.
Cut the greed.
Cut the distractions.
Go deep.
Start now. Start today.
And don’t stop.