A task of yours will only remains as focused and directed as you maintain it. The minute you start joking around with the concepts that are the foundation of the task, it becomes more likely to crumble. Playfulness and focused effort don’t mix too well. Here I discuss why you want to stay serious when in the middle of a task, and the problems that can be caused by even a short bit of relaxation or feeling of content during the process:
Studying For A Question-Based Exam Example
Let’s say you are studying for a certification or higher learning examination. You have spent the last two weeks working through practice questions in a Kaplan study booklet or an online course. Your focus has been maintained up until this point. You could now become content with your recent studious success, and do any of the following things:
- start studying less because “you’ve already come so far”
- talk condescendingly to others who haven’t studied as hard as you in the past couple of weeks
- take much longer breaks between studying times just to absorb your good position without continuing it
- let yourself get distracted during study time
- do the practice questions without time constraints even though the test would have a time limit
The Slippery Slope Away From Seriousness
When you start to take it easy with even a small action that lacks focus, you head down a path where you end up working less diligently, and without as much concern for the results. You have to take each question seriously, one-by-one, until you get done with a set. People who joke about things they are doing usually don’t get far in doing them. I can’t think of one successful individual that makes low-level jokes about anything, because making a joke about what you are doing shows others that you think you are in a good enough position where you don’t have to continue to work as hard.
Your Position Will Match Your Level Of Seriousness
The person who is “too serious” for their current position will move up to the next position, and the next one, until they get to a point where the people around them don’t see them as “too serious”, in comparison to themselves. The more you joke about what you are doing, the more likely it is that you move down a level or two. Often-praised traits that are had like unflappability or determination don’t come from relaxing at the first sign of success. This doesn’t mean to turn into an individual that has no choice in relation to pursuing your interests, but that you don’t want to show deviation from the pursuit. Deviation lets people know you are not fully focused on your goals, which will prevent them from fully supporting you, just as a woman will turn down a man who shows indecision in pursuing her.
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