In high school, I always thought that “hard work” was how you achieved success. Spending countless hours memorizing the elemental table, all of China’s Dynasties, and studying 3-dimensional calculus.
All of my studying led me to believe that the greater the effort invested, the more rewards life will give you.
However, that didn’t turn out to be true.
Fast forward to college years, and the same “hard work” idea still lingered in my core being. With diet as my main focus of attention, for the simple reason of looking good, it seemed natural to simply avoid eating to lose weight.
Just like in high school, hard work wasn’t the answer to success. In fact, I ended up gaining more weight than I started.
Why is that?
Well, I wasn’t smart enough – yikes!
By this point, I had heard, “Work smarter, not harder.” around a few hundred times before it finally clicked for in postgraduate studies.
What is the secret of becoming successful at a specific task? Is it super duper extra hard work and sheer determination? Or is there something more?
Based on my experience, the answer is simple: Make use of science and what is already known.
How Science Made My Diet A Success
It wasn’t until I learned about the science of dieting when I finally started to look better in my clothes with less effort yet better results.
In fact, after many trials and errors, from avoiding junk and processed food, from practicing intermittent fasting and its common mistakes, and counting calories to trying out specialized dietary protocols – success hinged on scientific knowledge of the task at hand.
And looking back, to successfully memorize the table of elements and reciting all of China’s dynasties could have been done with less effort if I only learned the science of memorization.
Science. Science. Science.
It’s the last piece of the equation to becoming successful at anything you want.
Do you want to become a better cook? Look at the science of cooking. Chemical and enzymatic reactions that make food delicious and palatable.
Do you want to effectively learn new study material? Take a look at the science of learning. How the brain absorbs information and how memory is created. It will make you an efficient learner with superior memory capacity.
Would you like to become an effective marketer? Study the science of psychology and persuasion, it’ll help you boost sales and double your earnings.
Whether it’s learning a new instrument, a new skill, or sport, science will get you from average to best, and from failure to success.
Try it.
It’ll make you efficient, smart, and well… downright cool.