I’ve seen naivety making so many people unwittingly buy into scores of ‘get rich quick‘ or ‘lose weight fast‘ schemes; only to find out later that none works except to relieve them of their hard earned money. A while back, one of my friends had bought one of those DIY gadgets that purportedly simulate belly muscle contractions and have you believe that weight lost is actually possible while watching TV.

Three months later…nothing’s happened. Worst part! He is as overweight as ever to this day. And he still dislikes the idea of working out at gym! Gullible, dupe enough to rush through and half-ass everything, jump-ready to cut corners; he is though good at pinching pennies!

These days a great many hyper driven people are so occupied in a massive rush to success that they blindly take any shortcut that appears their way. Looking for immediate hacks or quick fixes rather than putting in the necessary time, in reality this workaround generally ends in disappointments rather than a quick win.

I’m not any type of expert on the topic of “shortcuts.” I’m the one who has lived so far under the impression that you can’t totally control your impetuousness. I guess we all are hardwired like that.

This way of thinking though didn’t serve me well in the past. I was happy one day, sad the next. I would get angry easily. And I couldn’t find solutions to simple challenges I faced in my career, and relationships. Until I realized I needed to deliberately choose to wait or slow down, check my pace and hasten slowly. I have to hold back the impulse to rush if I were to avoid making mistakes.

Connect the Dots

How did I know I was getting better at thinking, passionate and not crazily hunting for success like before? Largely because I was no longer a slave to my impetuousness and I was much happier because of it. I was using my mind, and it’s no longer the other way around. I set it at rest occasionally to take load off it.

To me, that’s the definition of better reassurance. It’s nothing to do with how smart you are or how many crosswords you can crack. It’s about using your pep and mood to get what you want. I don’t pretend to have all the answers to recklessness or outsell any better. However, I do have the answer to how I’ve used nothing but my steady progress for long term success to live a happier and more meaningful life.

I guess I’m the living proof of the “change your ways, change your days” idea. Only a decade ago, I was stressed out, felt like giving up bosom hopes and hated my life. I felt stuck. But I don’t want to overstate things. I think we’ve all been there. And if you haven’t felt stuck in your life, it’s only a matter of time before you will.  It’s a common experience. You know how all those self-help books go wrong right? I was down and out. My life sucked. But then I discovered that for a positivist there is an opportunity in every difficulty. No shortcut to grassroots triumph. There are no quick fixes. You have to pay your dues!

And then my life changed.

A healthy real long-term success starts and finishes well, only when your impatience for grabbing a wow moment gives way to an urge for a steady progress. You wouldn’t know but it helps your plan not knock off its intended course.

There is of course nothing like a silver bullet for success. You simply cannot replace doing the groundwork. Working out at the gym, building wealth, picking up a new relationship or practicing yoga at a wellness center, you still need to do your part of the work. The bottom line is there is no time saver straight shot to real success. And what you desire to achieve has already been accomplished countless times already. “Emulate their success story and strive to equal or reach the same level of accomplishment”. No! I won’t insist to take a leaf out of someone’s book. See…I’ve lost count of how many times I was told to pick up the absolute best example against which I can measure myself.

Did I?

I’m not sure. I was not up to a ‘paragon’ with their specific shade of meaning, to be my shining example; to be the benchmark against which ‘my way of things’ needed to be compared. I couldn’t follow their gold standards and take the same steps they had to take in order to be successful.

For me each step meant very much like a little success of its own. And these little successes did add up for me. I earned my stripes, learning and growing through hands-on experience and steadily taking winning turns. I was careful of the detours and shortcuts that could actually undermine my triumph.

 Think Straight

You become what you think!

Here’s the thing: Not all shortcuts are created equal. Most people who try to beat the laws of averages pushing luck all too fast, often end up shooting themselves in the foot. Many merely view this loss as a means to an end. They reset their sights on quick fixes, which typically translates into a brief spell of playing by the rules and towing the line. But soon the problem flies off the handle. Almost anyone can endure a brutal month of self restraint and accommodation, but you can’t keep it up for long periods of time. It’s simply not sustainable. Cue a single roadblock–like a week off from the gym or a pint of luxury, chunky, loaded Baskin-Robbins you had sworn you wouldn’t polish off–and all of a sudden the wheels come off.

Think of it this way; if some days you’re too busy for even a few minutes of exercise or you slip up on your regimen, you think you’ve given yourself a break. But wait!  Here’s a much bigger picture: It’s what you do sometimes–not always–that you think makes a difference. Make several small lifestyle shifts and you’ll know why you can’t skip little things and jump ahead to the big finish. You just have to take it easy every day. The road from dream to reality is laden with specific monthly, weekly, even daily challenges; bigger, long-term results are only the sum of daily actions.

But that doesn’t mean the work has to be drastic or draining. Reaching milestones, however small, helps to stay focused and build confidence. In fact, when you skip and skirt demanding schedule in favor of a handful of smaller strategies, the cumulative effect can be lasting and huge.

More importantly, it won’t feel as if you’ve given up your entire life just to be the winner you’ve always imagined of yourself.