Why should you work on picking low-hanging fruit?

For those who are trying to assemble a plane (which will very likely not fly at all) and are bothered by seeing lots of standard trains passing by? In other words, for those who are engaged in ambitious and ‘low probability of success’ type of activities, but still can’t sleep well while everyone else around them is picking all the low (& low risk) hanging fruits out there.

Your great ambitions are awesome. And you can argue that the results we see in the outside world is largely the function of ambitions, not necessarily skills. Your readiness ‘to fail at things worth succeeding at if you succeed’ deserves utmost respect. I won’t try to convince you that you should spend your time comparing yourself from yesterday and today instead of looking at the locally successful personas and feeling envious. When you’re hungry, you can’t help, but notice everyone who is full (double ‘l’, not double ‘o’). That’s natural and understandable. Only when you’re satisfied can you start looking inward and begin the journey of tremendous growth.

You want to play in the premier league, but you haven’t paid your dues by playing in segunda. Exponential thinking is better (higher yield on aggregate) than linear, and you can convince yourself that you can skip the lower division and go straight to the first one. But those things take a lot of energy and time. You’ll get there, I’m sure. But to grind through the journey of 10,000 miles, you ought to have a high morale. And the motivation is your Achilles’ heel if you work days in and out without any noticeable progress. That’s why picking low hanging fruits on your way to the destination is important. No, you’re not sacrificing your bigger calling for something insignificant. You’re just taking a short turn to secure some easy wins, feel some drive-boosting progress and continue…