Trivial Work

You can now build your ideas faster than ever.
You can do something that will get you a result quick.
You can automate and delegate and make the difficult disappear.

There’s a place for trivial work, but you can tell there’s a limit somewhere.

At the opposite end, you can go for the moonshot.
At the opposite end, you can build toward what you can’t directly measure.
At the opposite end, you can develop something that will take years to bloom.

At either end, you can’t comfort yourself. You can’t say “I could do this forever and things will work out.”

At the trivial end, you’ll know very quickly that you’ve done something perishable, reproducible, and cheap.
At the opposite end, you will advance in obscurity and uncertainty until your efforts pay off.

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The trick is to advance doing meaningful, small actions. Not trivial, not compromising, not overly costly.

Keep your word.
That’s not trivial, it takes preparation.

Build muscle.
That’s not trivial, it requires both consistency and variety.

Elevate another person.
That’s not trivial, you can’t fake it.

Apply a theory that requires sacrifice to put to practice.
That’s not trivial, it’s rare.

Automate something that compounds naturally.
That’s not trivial, it’s a choice you better make early.

Create your own systems.
That’s not trivial, it’ll take knowledge of your limits.

Help others make progress.
That’s not trivial, you’ll need to increase empathy.

Surpass your ego.
That’s not trivial, you’ll need to learn to be useful in moments when things get hard.

Initiate difficult conversations.
That’s not trivial, it’s prioritizing relationships.

Do things that are both scary and sacred.
That’s not trivial, you’ll have to dance with your fears.

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There’s a way to distance yourself from trivial work. It will be costly, in a constant and difficult way, but it will be contained and surmountable.

You’ll be in a good spot to then go for those moonshots.