A thoughtful reader wrote to me after last week’s article “Un-Hack your life“. (Thanks, Mark!) He was wondering about, as he put it, where to draw the line between “hack” and “advice.” Was it about the amount of effort needed, or was there something else?
I replied, saying that I thought we were basically in agreement about the sorts of things generally attached to the #LifeHacks hashtag: some are useful, most are … not.
And then I thought about this some more over the last few days.
Here’s what I concluded, and I’d love to know what you think. Email me through my contact page if you’d like to join the conversation.
The so-called “hacks” that are challenging to implement – aren’t actually hacks.
By definition, it seems to me, a #Hack is a quick, easy, and perhaps surprising, way to do something. And sure, watching #LifeHack TikTok videos or Facebook Reels can be amusing – but how many of those tricks do we actually find useful?
And then there are practices and habits.
Practices are almost always challenging. They require long-term, ongoing commitment and concentration to do them. Meditation is often referred to as a practice, for instance, as is gratitude.
Similar to practices, habits are also things we keep doing over time, but they can become so ingrained in our day-to-day that we hardly think about the fact that we’re doing them. Of course, habits can be bad (biting your fingernails) or good (brushing your teeth).
I would not call meditation, gratitude, or tooth-brushing #LifeHacks. They’re practices and / or habits.
Bringing it back to leadership: much of what we strive to do as leaders falls into these categories of practices and habits and not #CareerHacks. Being open to feedback, asking curious questions, communicating clearly, and so on – these aren’t hacks, and they sure can be challenging to maintain as practices!
It’s natural to want a quick-and-easy, silver-bullet, magic-wand #Hack solution to success, whether in life or work.
But that’s not realistic.
So stick to your practices, develop strong (good) habits, and play with #Hacks for fun. Just don’t expect the #Hacks to create significant change.
I’m entirely serious in inviting your feedback and questions, by the way, and I always answer all emails. Here’s the link to my connect with me page.