Why Nobody Talks About How Boring Success Actually Is

As a teenager, I was obsessed with playing basketball for my middle school team. Looking back, it’s obvious to me that I wasn’t focused on the day-to-day work that would be required to achieve my goal. Instead, I fantasized about the thrill of playing in front of a raucous crowd and the glory of winning close games. I wanted the rewards of success without the boring work.

The truth is, success doesn’t look anything like it does in the movies or your daydreams. The key to success, in fact, is embracing the monotony and boredom of doing the same boring tasks with consistent, focused effort, day after day. Apart from luck or talent, there’s no way around it.

I didn’t make my middle school basketball team, and that failure taught me a critical lesson: if you truly want something, you have to get over your addiction to excitement. You have to find a way to love the grind, not just the glory.

Long-Term Growth Is Only Possible Through Mind-Numbing Consistency

Success appears glamorous from afar, but in reality, it’s often about doing the same thing over and over without seeing immediate progress or even enjoying the journey. In this article, I’ll share eleven ways to grow in your ability to do boring work, a skill which is a prerequisite for success in almost any endeavor.

Don’t Get Distracted or Frustrated By Apathy

Boredom reflects how you feel, not what’s important. Even if you’re bored, the work you’re doing might actually be pushing you closer to your goals. In my own journey as a writer, I’ve occasionally been tempted by more exciting projects, but I know those thrills are only short-lived and ultimately take me off course. Instead, I try to remind myself of how far I’ve come, and keep my eyes focused on the bigger picture.

Keep Your Eyes On The Big Picture

To stay motivated in a goal, one of the most effective things you can do is keep in mind the reason you’re there in the first place. Remind yourself of what you’re trying to achieve, and why it’s important to you. Personally, I’ve found it helpful to write out my goals and hang them somewhere I can see them every day. This ensures that my long-term desires are always in my mind and not crowded out by short-term distractions.

Set Manageable Goals When Possible

Sometimes boredom sets in when your goals are too grand and overwhelming. You look at what you’re trying to accomplish, and feel like you’re not making progress as fast as you’d like. If I’m not careful, I can fall into this mindset myself, and get discouraged by how much more there is to do. One practical tip that’s worked for me is to focus on realistic goals that can be accomplished in the short-term. This ensures that I have a regular pattern of enjoying and celebrating my progress.

Break Your Work Into Smaller Chunks

Related to the idea of setting manageable goals is realizing that you can always break your work into smaller chunks. Having smaller tasks to complete each day makes the task feel more doable and achievable. You might decide that you only need to spend a certain amount of time each day on your goal, or achieve some small step along the way. The point is that you’re making progress; in fact, you’re probably more likely to stick with this approach than tackling the whole thing in one large effort.

Look For Ways to Motivate Yourself

When you find yourself demotivated, apathy can quickly set in. That’s why it’s important to have a plan to motivate yourself. You could think of this plan like a looser, more flexible version of your original plan with a different, more creative way to accomplish your goal. In my own life, I sometimes change up the place where I do my work, or even the time of day, to shake things up. I’ve found that changing my physical environment sometimes has the effect of changing my attitude towards the work I’m doing.

Tackle Boring Tasks When You’re At Your Best

You’re more likely to succeed with boring work if you approach it calmly and with a full tank of energy. If you try to take on such work when you’re already tired, you’ll likely become frustrated and let it slide. To get around this, I try to tackle my most important (and often most boring) tasks first thing in the morning, and save my less important work for later in the day. That way I can take full advantage of my energy and motivation when they’re at their peak.

Make It A Game

Sometimes you can’t change the reality that a task is boring, but there are ways to make it more enjoyable. One way I deal with boring work is to try to make it a game. For example, I try to complete the task as fast as possible, or see how many days in a row I can complete it without failing. By turning work into a game, I trick my brain into keeping track of a new, more exciting goal or challenge, and that provides the motivation I need to continue.

Don’t Try To Avoid The Boring Work

The longer you procrastinate on the things you need to do, the less motivation you will have to do them. You might think that putting something off will give you time to develop more motivation, but the opposite seems to be true. In my experience, the longer I put off something hard, the more my brain is likely to associate that work with a negative feeling. I try to avoid those situations by tackling hard or boring tasks as soon as I can, and not letting them hang over my head.

Find A Partner To Work Alongside

Many people find work to be more enjoyable when it’s done in the company of another person. It’s true for me, as well. I find it far easier to work out with my wife than I do on my own. Working along another person helps break up the monotony of work by adding a social aspect to the experience. There’s something about doing things together, even boring things, that makes them more enjoyable, or at least more bearable.

Reward Yourself For Sticking With It

As I mentioned earlier, I sometimes make excuses to myself about putting something off until later because I imagine that I’ll feel more motivated at that time. But of course, that time never comes. Instead, I’ve found it helpful to incentivise myself to get started by rewarding myself for doing the hard and boring work. For most people, there are things they enjoy doing that aren’t necessarily bad, but aren’t their top priority. The key is to use those enjoyable experiences as a reward for doing the work you should be doing.

Track Your Progress And Celebrate Your Wins

While I do recommend setting manageable goals, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have one large, ambitious goal that you’re working towards. In most people’s minds, that goal is probably a number of years away. However, because it’s something you value highly, it’s important that you don’t lose sight of it. In my own life, I try to keep these goals as visible as possible, and I require myself to track my daily progress towards reaching them. This keeps me motivated to stay on track, and also gives me a reason to celebrate progress as it’s being made.

In Conclusion

Success isn’t achieved by doing the most glamorous work— it’s not about the highest highs or the most exciting projects. To me, those things are secondary, and only a small part of the equation. The real secret to success is having the stamina, resilience, and grit to stick with the ordinary, run-of-the-mill work that most people don’t want to do. You have to be willing to be bored, and through it, cultivate a deep inner drive to reach your goals.