Here’s some great insights from Mike Biltonen (my darling husband), he gained along his journey. 

I am not exactly sure when the word ‘hacking’ came into being (i.e., general use), but most of us think of hacking in terms of computer hacking, or breaking into somebody’s computer. Proficient computer hackers do this by exploiting poor security in a computer program, generally through what’s known as a backdoor. In other words, they take a shortcut. In may be a complicated shortcut, but it achieves a goal they couldn’t have otherwise, because of a lack of a password or other authorization.

One of the earliest forms of hacking that I can think of (though it wasn’t referred to as that) are Cliff Notes. For the younger crowd, these are those little yellow books that you can find in any college bookstore that break down an otherwise long book into palatable chunks, giving you an overview (the gist) without actually having to read the book. Sure, you can now take the test or write the report, but you still haven’t read the book. Another older use of the work would be for a hacksaw – something you use to get out of jail without serving the time.

Today, hacking can be applied to just about everything. Work, exercise, love, relationships, you name it, if we do it, you can hack it. That is, you can take a shortcut—a get out jail (or doing the work) free card. Yesterday, Mathew and I had breakfast at the wonderful Café Dewitt in Ithaca. All around us were people on their phones, checking Facebook, or Twitter, or whatever. And yes, I am not totally innocent of such charges from time to time, but this day I left my phone in the car; On purpose (gasp!). Looking around I realized that people were hacking an actual relationship with people by constantly checking their social media updates. Their online friends meant more to them than the people right in front of them—or so it seemed. One couple were on their phones all through breakfast and I’m not sure they said more than just a few words to each other. It sad.

I just finished another blog about a past life I had in bodybuilding. I didn’t realize it until I was writing that blog, but my use (anyone’s use) of steroids, PEDs, protein shakes, whatever, is just their vein attempt to biohack their way to success or achieve a goal. Other people try to life-hack their way to happiness – houses, cars, money….it’s all just an attempt to get something that quite simply just takes work. You gotta do the work.

I know it all sounds very Zen, but you can’t make bread without kneading the dough; or playing the guitar without strumming the strings; or grow the tomatoes without tilling the garden. You won’t run that marathon unless you train for it. Wax on, wax off. It’s the only way to get anything done. It just can’t be done otherwise, not in a meaningful way anyway. Even if you want to be a proficient computer hacker, you have to put in the time to understand computers, networks, and programming languages. If there was an app for it, we’d all be doing it. But there isn’t, so put down the damn phone and talk to that person across from the table from you. Do the work!