Searching for the greatest life admin hacks?
I was puzzled to find out that there are literally close to 20,000 searches on Google every year for the words ‘life hacks’ in Australia. [source: SEMrush]
And what comes up?
Watch that 20X ROI video to get all you could dream of in your business.
Download that 10-week challenge and have the body of an “elite athlete”.
Listen to that podcast and your life plan will just fall into place.
Close your eyes and imagine $1,000,000 and the universe will just deliver it to you. It’s called manifesting.
Lose 9kg in 6 weeks with my fitness program while eating burgers and ice cream.
I mean… we’ve all been there. What you’re really searching for is a glimmer of hope, attracted to the prospect of what could simply be.
But what you’re finding is only disappointment: false claims, crushed hopes, clever marketing campaigns and elaborate scams.
What life hacks really are
You’re looking for life admin hacks because they’re designed to make your life easier. It’s given you a possibility, showing you an outcome someone else got that is in reach for you too.
I recently came across this website called 50hacks which literally promises the “Top 50 productivity hacks chosen by the internet and you” and this is the absolute illustration of what a search for life hacks is about and why it doesn’t work.
Because…
If you’re searching for the ultimate life admin hacks, you’re missing the point
I can’t believe I’m referring to this website one more time but as one of users very rightly suggested as a hack (😂):
The real point of life is to do the work, rise from the dark and into the light from whatever stage of life you’re in. To grow, learn and be better for it next time.
are life admin hacks a complete fad?
There’s nothing wrong with life hacks, productivity hacks, life admin hacks, fitness hacks, or whatever kind of hacks you’re after. It comes down to what you’re using them for.
Don’t get me wrong, hacks on how to make the perfect poached eggs or pizza base are most welcome, but does reading about something really make it easier when it comes to some of the big block moments of life, if that's all you do?
The evolution to the “next level” is forged in the process of putting in the practice and adopting the change that you seek. I am yet to see anyone make fundamental and significant changes in their life by just reading about it or thinking about it.
Everyone who is successful at it, puts in the work!
In the constant search for the next piece of “vital” information, are you missing out on all the wonder around you that may well be what you need to hack life and get through the moment with ease?
And better for it, the next time this moment presents itself?
I would say, YES.
“I bet you can’t tell me what it smells like in the Sistine chapel, you’ve never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling, seen that.” Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting
No time for life hacks when you live in the moment
Do you continue to read the books, listen to the podcasts, watch the Youtube videos, read the blogs with the aim to fill your mind with that much “hack” and knowledge that it has no choice but to seep into your mind and transform into action?
Or do you simply accept where you are at, recognise what is really driving you and what you truly seek, open up, surrender… and work your arse off to get over the top, signing up for all the bumps in the road to success.
My answer is, YES. Because…
There is no success without the feeling of failure
By skipping the work and the possibility of failure, there can be no sweet taste of victory ever passing your lips.
How can you use the disappointment of second place to fuel yourself forward, if you are never in the race to achieve first place, instead settling to watch the highlights of another?
Is there truly the understanding of deep love without the feeling of heartbreak?
Can you truly experience life, unless you are in it up to your neck?
This scene from one of my favourite movies Good Will Hunting provides a captivating picture to what living life is really about when you are living it, there simply is no skip a few sections and jump ahead to the “good stuff”.
On my podcast Two dads a coaching conversation about life (E03) I once said that:
“Often the challenge we are faced with, is often what we don't do is recognise the things that deep down are what we need to change about ourselves or actions needed to be undertaken, and we ignore those things. When we ignore them we aren’t validating ourselves, acknowledging we are on the right track and that’s when we slip up”.
Wean yourself off the life hacks to live better
It’s not as easy as it seems. Not that long ago, we were doing everything without ChatGPT and look at us now.
But these should be tools helping you get further quicker, not doing the work for you!
One way to go about it though is to:
Start with stopping the craving for perfection in everything.
Be okay with not knowing the outcome, the precise method and be fine with a chance of failure. Get curious about what you need to learn along the way.
Digest the information and transform it into action.
Instead of listening to 10 podcasts and reading 3 self-help life hack books this month, consume half of that and then dedicate the time saved to focusing on action, impact and change aligned with your legacy vision. What did you learn there that you can apply right away?
Do the work.
Do what you say you are going to do more often, make action a habit. Motion creates emotion.
No one else can do this for you!
There is no true shortcut relating to yourself. Use expertise around you to multiply your knowledge but this does not equate to doing the actual work, it is just knowledge. Put in the work yourself! Do what needs to be done.
Flip your perspective from thinker to doer.
It’s tempting to be playing the victim card, wallowing in ‘why me’ and looking for a way out of whatever rut you’re in via a life admin hack. Instead, accept to see what lesson is being offered for you to grow.
You’re in the driver seat, it relies on you.
Find accountability from inside of you and via someone close, to keep you working on the plan and strategy you have created. Put a system in place that can’t let you down.
I found in my time as a life coach that, often people do not want to confront, sit with and analyse their fears.
Seeking to find a hack that someone has created, nearly circumventing what needs to actually be learned to evolve feels easier and more accessible.
Remind yourself that you once had to learn to walk, run and talk… and that too was a process to go through. No doubt a challenge and probably a little shaky at times but what was monumental to those around you at that time was just part of the plan to you.
Your life right now is no different… This is where you are today and this is what you need to do in order to be the best version of you someday.
Don’t hack it, live it, experience it, learn it.
