Comeback Stories > Shortcut Stories

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Sensational shortcut stories are so sexy! "I sold my company for $100M at 29 years old. Buy my course and I'll share my secrets!" "I lost 30 pounds in 30 days. Buy my supplements and you can, too!" "Use my new AI-assistant to find and close new profitable business while you sleep!" Influencers know that the fastest way to build an audience is through entertainment and hype. Based on my LinkedIn feed, what we want most from our network are hot tips for shortcuts - shortcut stories.

How can I get the rewards that are earned through hard work over a long period of time - in less time and with less work?

While some shortcut stories entertain us, all comeback stories teach us. Shortcut stories make us feel inadequate, while comeback stories give us hope. In a world of infinite content, we have unprecedented control over our content feeds. We can feed our attention span with any kind of content we want from LinkedIn, YouTube, X, Instagram, Netflix. I will share three reasons below to redirect your attention away from shortcut stories and towards comeback stories.

1. Shortcut stories are "I" stories. Comeback stories are always "WE" stories. Shortcut stories are self-promotional. They have some special knowledge, influence, willpower, talent that allowed them to bypass the normal rules of work and time. Comeback stories are always a community effort. When people share how they overcame extremely difficult challenges or endured an especially dark time in their life, those stories always involve help from other humans.
2. Shortcut stories provide low-probability strategies. Comeback stories provide high-probability strategies. Shortcuts will work sometimes. 2% of the audience may get the results that the author claims. Most will not. In fact, for most, the shortcut strategy may actually make their path longer and harder. Comeback stories more often contain practical wisdom from proven paths. When you are facing an unusually difficult challenge, you want to find a community of people who have faced something similar and follow the path that offers the highest probability of making it to the other side.
3. Shortcuts produce brittle people. Comebacks produce resilient people. Your life and career will present you with significant obstacles - repeatedly, forever. You won't ever graduate from difficulties. When shortcuts work, they leave you less prepared to tackle the next challenge. You will likely believe that your shortcut toolkit will work again in the future and it probably won't. Comebacks produce resilience and community and hope. After making your first comeback, you will be more likely to face your next tough challenge with a belief that you will overcome that challenge also.

Shortcut stories are like junk food - empty calories. The more you eat, the more hungry you are. Comeback stories are rich in nutrients. In the same way that you would improve your physical health by replacing junk food with more nutritious options, you need to replace your consumption of shortcut stories with comeback stories. My favorite source of comeback stories is my friends and co-workers - a simple extension of conversations we are already having. "Have you had a time in your life when you were going through something that was so difficult that you were not sure you would make it through?....How did you make it through?"

I love hearing comeback stories and I want to hear yours. Send me a message and let's connect so I can hear your story. I intend to start sharing these stories - perhaps removing the names to protect privacy - in future editions of this newsletter. I have asked several friends lately to share one of their own comeback stories and I have been incredibly inspired by what they have shared. Everyone has a comeback story -- and you also have comebacks-in-progress! Ditch the shortcuts. Embrace the comeback!

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