Unicorns and Success: The Price of Effort

Have you ever felt tired of opening emails that are just scams all over? Trust me, I get it. It's exhausting. Yet, nowadays, I find myself almost enjoying the absurdity of it all. I mean, have you ever taken a moment to marvel at the sheer effort people put into these scams to get "easy money"? It's truly a spectacle. I cannot even tell you how many times I have "won" stays at luxurious hotels, been offered lines of credit, and landed jobs I didn't apply for, in positions I'm not remotely qualified for, with salaries and benefits so outrageously good they might as well come with a unicorn.

Now, in all honesty, the question of "Why do people do what they do?" is what interests me the most. Because of this, I can't help but wonder what these masterminds could achieve if they channeled their creativity and persistence into something more honest. The possibilities are endless! Think about it—they've inadvertently contributed to the fields of cybersecurity and scam alerts, among other things. But let's be real: the better question here is, why is the perception of the "easy thing" so alluring when we all know it's just a mirage? Most of the time, these scams work because we're hoping for that easy score. We want to be doctors but complain that the classes are hard; we want to be good at something, but we want it now and with minimal effort. No magic formula gives you a life of luxury without a bit of hard work. Everything requires effort.

It's time to show the younger generation not just the NBA games but also the grueling training and effort required to get there. We're so used to seeing the final product and the end result that we overlook the trajectory. Today, I can look back and see all it took to be where I am now and recognize all that is still ahead to overcome and learn from to become who I aspire to be. Even though I have often hoped for the easy path, when something looks too easy, I can't trust it. Life has taught me that there are very few things in life that are easy but that all that is truly important and valuable for us to accomplish requires hard work.

So the next time you want to take a shortcut because you are too tired to commit to the full journey, remember that the real reward lies not in the illusion of easy success but in the character-building exercise of realizing that unicorns with outrageous salaries don't actually exist.