Do the real thing.

The Real Thing is Hard

Real things require real difficulty. Fake stuff never does.

This doesn’t mean fake work is effortless. Instead, pretend activity always has just enough difficulty to allow you to trick yourself into thinking you’re doing something that matters. But, conveniently, it avoids any of the truly difficult things the real situation would create.

I love this article.

I wish the educational system in general would adopt this mindset. The vast majority of K-12 education and even college/universities consists of "fake stuff" when students could be doing far more "real stuff" instead.

I feel personally attacked by this article

A couple of years ago I felt like I was a productivity machine because what I mainly needed to do was get up to speed information wise, so consuming content helped massively.

Now I'm at the point where starting an actual project is what I need. But nooo, it's easier to dream of how the end product will look like finished:D

Fantastic article. Thanks for sharing.

Shows you there is only so much theory you can take in. Sooner or later you have to start doing to show real progress. I have fallen into this trap more times that I can count.

2. The hard way is the easy way.
   Difficulty is paradoxical. The hardest things often become the easiest once we’re fully committed to them. What’s difficult is the commitment, not the action; the word, not the deed.

Superexcellent read!! Thanks for sharing.
I would add that what makes people unable to focus on the real things is mostly due to (easy) access to the fake alternatives. One good strategy is to eliminate or at least hide those so-called fake alternatives from sight. When you have nothing blurring your vision, you have no choice but to see the big picture and only then can you truly focus on the right things, the real things.