Author: Chase Holik
No matter where you are trying to go in life, you won’t get there any quicker by taking shortcuts.
It takes a dedicated and diligent effort to create something worthwhile, but it is worth it in the end. Of course, there is a big difference between taking shortcuts and working more efficiently. You should always be efficient any chance you can, but a shortcut is more likely to set you back. Don’t use other people’s success as a barometer of how quickly you should achieve whatever it is you are shooting for. People may seem like they reached success quickly, but you don’t know how long they spent doing related work or what they had to endure to get there.
These are the most common shortcuts that people take that could sell yourself short.
1. Take the Easy Route
Struggles are going to happen throughout your life. But when you look back on it, the things that challenged you the most are going to feel like your biggest accomplishments. Take those challenges and turn them into lessons and experiences; you will only grow more quickly because of it.
2. Follow the Crowd
If you follow the crowd, then there’s a good chance that you won’t get lost. However, why would you want to follow others when you have your own path to pave? Be brave enough to take some risks and be courageous when doing so. Following your own intuition instead of someone else’s will help you grow as a person.
“If you follow the crowd, you will likely get no further than the crowd. If you walk alone, you’re likely to end up in places no one has ever been before. Being an achiever is not
without its difficulties, for peculiarity breeds contempt. The unfortunate thing about being ahead of your time is that when people finally realize you were right, they’ll simply say it was obvious to everyone all along. You have two choices in life. You can dissolve into the mainstream, or you can choose to become an achiever and be distinct. To be distinct, you must be different. To be different, you must strive to be what no else but you can be.”
― Alan Ashley-Pitt
3. Cut Corners
Whether you are talking about your job, relationships or anything else, it can be easy to cut corners once you get comfortable. Eventually, you may stop feeling appreciated, but it’s important to rekindle the fire and let others know how you feel. Cutting corners in any relationship will only damage it, or even worse, cause you to lose trust in one another.
4. Procrastinate
A lot of people procrastinate without looking at the big picture. Of course, you can procrastinate on a couple of things and still get them done on time. However, procrastination could become a lifestyle if you aren’t careful. Set goals every day to help you become more productive. If you wake up in the morning thinking that you are going to dominate the day, and continue to tell yourself that throughout the day, then you will likely become much more productive. Like Pablo Picasso said, “Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.”
5. Settling
The worst thing that happens to people is settling for mediocrity. We have so many opportunities available to us, so settling will just limit your potential. If you know you are capable of being more than what you are now, then take action to change it. The change won’t happen overnight, but if you take small steps forward every day, then you will eventually improve yourself to the point where you won’t accept settling.
6. Avoid Confrontation
What happens if you go to bed leaving an argument unsettled with your significant other? Chances are you will wake up angry and won’t have a good attitude throughout the day. You need to find a way to forgive people who hurt you instead of avoiding them all together and thinking it will go away. Even when you think you’ve forgotten about it, there’s still something in the back of your mind that will resurface occasionally. When that happens, you are limiting your happiness and your potential to grow as a person.
Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, “Genius is 1% talent and 99% effort.”
You can’t take shortcuts to get anywhere worth going.
If you want anything to improve, you have to work at them. Sitting back and relying solely on faith will only get you so far. Faith should be high on your list, but working hard to back up that faith will get you where you’re going at a faster rate.
