How makers stay productive

> There is nothing great about working hard on a hopeless cause. You are not a better person because you are suffering more. Sacrifices can be necessary, but many assume that making sacrifices means they should be rewarded. There is nothing more common than useless sacrifices. – [@orangebook_](https://twitter.com/orangebook_/status/1682709172104876032)

***I felt that.***

What we always hear: "Success requires sacrifice".
What we often extrapolate wrong: "Sacrifice causes success."

Because if you're making sacrifices on the wrong thing, no amount of matrydom will get you to the success you seek. But when you hit on the right thing, you'll be sure you need to hustle hard and sacrifice something to get to the success you seek.

Sacrifice is an effect of a good opportunity, not a cause.

So **be lazy**. Wonder and wander. Window shop around. Don't leap into action and hunker down to work too soon. Work effectively.

The problem for me was when I started out, my spider sense for what's a good opportunity was ways off. I didn't know how to tell what good looks like. So everything became a good opportunity. Which led to too many failed attempts, lost time, wasted effort, and ultimately, burnout.

So in a way, doing it the wrong way, thinking that "sacrifice causes success" is a rite of passage. Without the painful lessons, it's hard to develop that spider sense of opportunities.

But it would have certainly helped if I knew this beforehand.

Success leads to sacrifice, not the other way.