We’ve all encountered effortless people—or people we perceive to be effortless or naturally talented—here’s three simple ways they differ from most people.

#1: They take a tectonic plates approach to personal growth
Continental drift is the theory that the Earth’s continents are constantly moving—effortless people take a similar approach to growth and change.

Instead of seismic undertakings, effortless people are constantly learning, thinking, and applying. This creates subtle, continuous shifts that eventually compound to become visible to others.

They also know the most defining changes come from catalytic events much like colliding tectonic plates form mountains, volcanos, and the Earth’s other topography. They lean into these moments and see beauty in the changing terrain (whether positively inspired or not).

#2: They never pass up the first opportunity to implement advice
Effortless people implement advice immediately upon receipt—no matter how shaky they feel on execution. When it is received, the gears have begun to turn on how to execute on it.

Instead of focusing on nailing it the first time, effortless people are getting accustom to the act of doing it. Each attempt offers lessons to apply and, eventually, you have mastered the art of handling a particular situation.

#3: They turn advice into broader principles
Effortless people look for broader applications of advice.

Instead of seeing advice being situation-specific or confined to one aspect of life, effortless people extrapolate advice in pursuit of macro principles that can be integrated across all realms of life.

The takeaway
Surprise, it isn’t effortless—it’s simply unnoticed effort.

Note: This is my first atomic essay and I’ll be publishing one every day for the month of January 2022. If you’d like to read deeper dives on any, collect an NFT—this will determine how I spend my time when it comes to long-form pieces.