The world-class endurance swimmer, Diana Nyad, recently swam
across open ocean (with no protective cage) from Cuba to the southern shore of
the United States. It was a first for
any swimmer.
Her initial attempt occurred when she was 29 and over the
next three decades, she failed to complete the swim multiple times. She was 64 when she successfully completed the swim from Havana, Cuba to the Florida Keys.
It took her about 53 hours of torturous effort to get the
job done. Besides the threat of sharks
and rough seas she was terrorized by the paralyzing stings of jellyfish.
The goal…the dream…was not devalued by Ms. Nyad deciding to
take some shortcut in illegal techniques just to finish the swim. She long ago decided if she was going to make
the effort, it was going to be a goal truly worth achieving.
There is the challenge for you and any goal you set. If you don’t make the commitment to do what
it takes (fair and square…no cheap shortcuts), your achievement will be
diluted. You will never feel the
overwhelming sense of accomplishment of a Diana Nyad!
There are 3 reasons why that is the case.
1
First, consider one definition of the word, shortcut. Per Merriam-Webster Dictionary: “a method or
means of doing something more directly and quickly than and often not so
thoroughly as by ordinary procedure.”
Now, how could a worthy goal truly be achieved if, in fact,
you had not done so thoroughly? The answer is it can’t without having somehow
reduced the ultimate worth of the goal.
If a goal is truly worth achieving, then it is worth putting
your best effort forward.
Think...No shortcut delivers full value of the original
goal!
2
Another reason shortcuts actually devalue your goals is
through the time you have to devote to finding them. The reality is if you avoided the detour of
looking for shortcuts you could be devoting that same time and your total
concentration and effort on achieving the goal.
I’m reminded of one of Murphy’s Laws: ”A shortcut is the
longest distance between two points.”
A great example of the point of this Murphy’s Law can be
illustrated by a thought expressed by Stephen R. Covey author of the 7 Habits
of Highly Effective People; Principle Centered Leadership and other fine
personal development books.
His relevant thought was: “Fast is slow with people and slow
is fast.”
His point was when trying to get people to do what you need
them to do, you can’t just throw the task at them and expect the resulting
effort to be a good one. In fact, taking
that fast approach will slow down getting the desired results because people
won’t be that clear on the goal.
Rather, you will get faster and better results when you take
it slow enough to explain to people why what they are being asked to do is
important. And, to thoroughly explain
the desired outcome or goal so they have a clear direction.
Think…Deliberate and steady assures achieving goals that are
heady. Short and sweet may require you
to repeat!
3
Finally, taking shortcuts can devalue your goal because of
the old truism…Wishing consumes as much energy as planning.
The essence of a good plan is to assure the achieving of a
worthy goal. A good plan by default is
not a “shortcut” to a worthy goal because it includes all the steps to realize
the goal. No steps are shortcut out of
the process or the result may be an unworthy surprise.
Think…A well thought-out plan is the shortest distance
between the wish and actually getting to where you want to be.
Diana Nyad never gave up on nor ever devalued her truly
worthy goal of swimming the Straits of Florida from Cuba to the U.S.
What are you going to do to make sure you
don’t shortcut your way to devalued goals?
Please share your thoughts by commenting below.
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media share link at the top or bottom of this post.
Thank
you.
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