Do you remember at school when you had to show your workings to get full marks? Just giving the right answer wasn’t enough you had to show how you got there.
Most people are constantly looking for quick, easy solutions to problems which require the minimum of effort. But does this miss the point? Is the journey more important than the outcome (or at least as important?)
I am all for being result-focussed and not wasting time getting to those results but it is often in the time taken to get there that you will learn more. Take dieting as an example.
If there was a miracle cure pill to eliminate obesity most people would take it straight away. These pills are constantly being developed and improved so it won’t be long until they are effective and generally available. But is this just as good as eating healthily and doing some exercise?
Let’s look at the results of the pill
1 – Weight loss
Now what about some of the possible results from diet and exercise
1 – Weight loss
2 – Better overall health
3 – Improved self-discipline
4 – Improved cooking skills
5 – New friends met at your exercise class
and potentially lots of other things.
The result is superficially the same – weight loss but the method that takes time and effort also delivers other benefits that aren’t so obvious.
The message to think about all the benefits of what you are doing when you are tempted to take a short cut, sometimes the short cut isn’t worth it in the long run.
