It’s in our nature to look for the shortcut in everything we do. Some will spend more time trying to find the shortcut than the time it would take to get the task done. I, like many see the expected time of arrival on a GPS as not the time of arrival but my time to beat. I will rush to get to my destination using shortcuts and not allowing stops.. Why? Because everything we do is time based and we are always looking for more. The one thing I often miss is enjoying the sights and sounds of the trip. Seeing something I’ve never seen before and possibly will never see again.
Samething happens at work, a task is placed in front of me, there’s a deadline involved. I will go out of my way not to meet the deadline but to beat it. The one thing to this day that is still hard for me to handle is meeting or planned times. Growing up in a small community everything I did was based on respecting others time. If I had to be somewhere at 3 pm, I would arrive 2:15-2:30 at the latest. I have carried that over with me through today, if I’m ever on time or late there’s an issue. When I moved to Morgantown I learned quick that a meeting at 3pm meant you would see the rest of your party 3:30-4pm.
In sports you often see teams do everything in their power to get an advantage. Be-it deflating footballs, stealing signs / signals, and so-on. I’ve heard it time and time again, it’s not cheating if you don’t get caught. Well, that’s incorrect by definition cheating is still cheating. You see it in practice, kids have to run laps or sprints. In the drill you are to touch or run through a line, kids will run up-to or close to said line but not touch thinking that will be the shortcut they need to win.
Not all shortcuts are good, in fact many lead you in a direction of not completing a task.. i.e. running through or touching a line. If you continue to do it in a practice, then it will start to occur in a game. Finish your drill, finish your deadline. Learn to slow down from time to time and enjoy the scenery. We rush through life and then wonder why we missed so much when we look back.
Today extend that shortcut and take that few minutes you would have saved to enjoy something new or something you haven’t noticed in a long time. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Arrive to your meeting early, surprise someone.
Enjoy your day.
TCB