Episode 38 – Taking Shortcuts

• I have a friend who always liked bending the rules
• I haven’t seen him lately but we talked on the phone the other day after a long time
• He now also lives on the west coast
• And we talked about traffic in California
• And the metered freeway entry ramps that we dont have back in Texas
• So he told me about ways he found to circumvent these meters, which are basically traffic lights that indicate when its your turn to get on the freeway
• And then I remembered this about him – and how – a long time ago ….
• when I was all freaked out a speeding ticket I got
• And he told me all the ways to get out of it
• He is from Europe, like me –
• we Europeans like to drive fast
• But I distinctly remember our conversation back then
• Where I just could not comprehend how I could argue something as clearly evident as going over a set limit which was measured
• I couldn’t think of a single excuse for that, even though I wanted to
• And I felt stupid, listening to all his suggestion how he had figured out the system and I had not
• I felt like I am missing something and that I was the looser who has to pay for her ticket while nobody else does
• When we had our recent conversation – all I could think of was this:
• What a waste of energy!
• Trying to circumvent a system that was put in place to keep order
• With a purpose
• Do you waste energy on trying to find ways around?
• Do you try to get away with things?
• Are you bending the rules to make them fit your understanding of things should go?
• I know I did my fair share of that when I was younger
  • Cutting in front of people on the road or in lines because I was running late or in a hurry
• Or I didn’t accept when people told me how something worked and rebelled by complaining
• Yup – I was that difficult customer that every call center would talk about in team meetings
• There are certainly things that are worth standing up for in this world
• But trying to get out of traffic tickets or circumventing rules to me is shirking responsibility
• Not paying parking tickets, spending beyond credit card limits, making excuses for turning in projects past the deadline, coming to work late ….
• This may work in movies, for the hero that is trying to get away from the bad guys
• Real life though is a little different.
• It has to do with taking responsibility
• It has to do with doing what is right
• While that doesn’t sound as appealing and canny, its your best ticket for success in life
• You feel you are fighting the fight, you feel strong and smart, but against whom are you really fighting?
• I would say you fight agains yourself.

Here are my 4 sad but honest takes on short cuts.

I urge you to contemplate them.

Sticking to the rules sounds uncool, but remember, our life’s purpose is not to be cool

Our purpose is not to appear but to BE.

1. Taking shortcuts is living on lower ground
   • I know – as shocking as this may sound
   • You think you are so smart
   • You found so many clever ways around the system
   • A new angle, a loophole
   • And you expect applause and credit
   • But really – lets be honest:
   • All this energy invested just so you could come out first, unseen, and unscathed
   • You never see the higher realms where you could be living
   • You always meddle on the bottom of the pit
   • Instead of working on bigger issues, applying your aptitude in productive and creative ways,
   • Instead of advancing in life
   • Learning lessons and applying them, and maybe helping others learn them to
   • You are on lower ground, like a pocket thief that cant make it big

• Its actually sad and you know it

2. Taking shortcuts is living in and admitting to fear

• Yup – you are scared
• You are afraid to face responsibility – that’s why you shirk it
• That’s why you come up with all sorts of distraction maneuvers that may seem clever but they are just that – distraction from the real issue
• And the issues is you
• You have fear
• Fear to change, fear to take responsibility for the issues that caused the dilemma that you are trying to cover up
• Fear to face your weaknesses
  • To address the issue of you always running late by leaving earlier
  • No way – that would not be logical
  • To admit that you struggle with money, or drugs, or alcohol and ask for help
• You are afraid to fight – so you take flight

3. Taking shortcuts is skipping ahead

• It really is cheating
• But to help you get the picture, I’ll be more descriptive:
• By skipping to the front of the line or around the issue you are missing the important lessons that life is teaching you
• the results are usually unfinished or half-done outcomes
• which only lead to more of the same issues you already have
• if you decide to skip the lesson, the lesson will reappear in life, but with increased severity
• cheating your way through life may work with traffic tickets, at your job, with people that don’t care so much
• but it wont work with your loved ones, or with your own happiness
• the consequences will get bigger and bigger and more challenging to fix
• maybe impossible to fix

• “Every shortcut has a price usually greater than the reward.”
  ― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

4. Taking shortcuts is not getting you to your end destination

• You may think it is
• You got the A on the test
• You didn’t have to pay the fine
• You made your money, got the promotion, the better car
• But you didn’t learn anything
• You learned to beat the system – great
• Is that a life skill that will help you advance or will it just help you stay out of trouble
• The key to living a fulfilled life is learning from our failures
• Once we do, doors will open up we never knew existed
• Life has an amazing way of helping you realize your dreams in ways far from what you could have ever imagined
• But you have to be open to it

So – my advice is this:

Take responsibility for your life

When you made a mistake, admit to yourself that you did and fix it

Otherwise you will run around in the same hamster wheel for the rest of your life

Shortcut – cleaning up the mess

Shortcut – getting what you want

Shortcut – circumventing responsibility

You realize that this is the same thing over and over again

Grow up

Follow the rules of society

By bending them you are not teaching anyone anything

You are just holding yourself back

Pay the fine

Clean up the mess

Wait in line

Understanding that every

Behavior — >> consequence

You will learn valuable life skills along the way

Such as

Caution

Patience

Responsibility

Trustworthiness

And so much more

And that is what I call maturing

Be true to the game, because the game will be true to you. If you try to shortcut the game, then the game will shortcut you. If you put forth the effort, good things will be bestowed upon you. That’s truly about the game, and in some ways that’s about life too.

Michael Jordan