We sometimes want to find shortcuts in life. It's natural to want to take the easy way out, especially when it comes to things we don't enjoy doing. However, this can be a huge mistake. When it comes to personal growth, taking shortcuts can be detrimental. This blog post will discuss the dangers of taking shortcuts and how they can impact your life and growth.

The easy way out may be more problematic in the long run.

It can be tempting sometimes to take a shortcut to attain or achieve something. We all know that success can take time and effort to obtain, but sometimes, it can feel too long before the results come. People can become impatient, especially when nothing significant seems to happen after working for a while. Our fast-paced and instant culture can also affect our thinking and make us want to get results right now. The reality is that there are indeed shortcuts that exist that can make things happen for you right away. You can make others do the work for you, employ some life hack or a program that will let you zoom in to success quickly, or worse, utilize a cheat or immoral way to attain what you want at the cost of something else.

Taking shortcuts to attain your dreams and goals might work once, twice, or constantly. However, you lose something in the process, and these are the following things.

1. You miss out on the journey

What makes life interesting is the experiences we get as we work hard toward something. Of course, there will undoubtedly be downer moments, and these are what some people want to avoid, hence taking the easy route to success. However, there are also moments of happiness in between that one may miss if they decide to take a shortcut in life. You could have met some interesting people along the way and experienced some exciting moments. The results do not always count; the process is as necessary.

2. You may not appreciate the value of what you got

It's easy to take for granted something handed to you instantly or acquired the easy way. You may downplay its importance, and in the case of an object, don't handle it with care. If you never did some hard work to achieve or attain something, the weight of its value decreases. It makes you think you can quickly gain something since there is a shortcut to doing it. However, when you take the traditional path and work hard for something, the result becomes worthy to you, and you treasure it because you know how challenging it can be to acquire such a thing.

3. You lose on learning

A quick way to attain something can make the result look like magic. It can suddenly appear in front of you. However, while you may feel good about achieving something you want quickly, you lose the learning process. There are various skills and knowledge required to obtain something in your life. You may have utilized a way or a person to help you get something fast. However, these shortcuts may not be present again the next time, and since you don't know how to acquire such a thing or result, you end up not gaining what you want later.

4. Life can feel dull

An easy life can feel comforting, including attaining what you want the fastest way. While it may feel nice to achieve success or get something fast, it may quickly lose value and make you want to move to the next. So your life becomes an endless chase of looking for the next big thing that can satisfy you. Also, life is more about experiences. Indeed, the future brings a lot of uncertainty, and we don't know how long we will live in this world. That is why some focus on the present and give their full attention to what's happening. If you only care about the results and obtaining things fast, life can feel uninteresting as you are not living but just doing things.

Where not to take a shortcut in our personal and professional lives

Knowing that shortcuts can negatively affect your growth in life, it's essential to know what areas of life you should not apply them. Utilizing efficiency tactics is still okay if you don't rush too much to do and finish things. However, remember that there can be a lot you can learn while working toward something, and you can fully achieve the value of the item or result if you know what it takes to get to the desired destination. The following are some aspects of life where you don't want to rush and do things properly.

1. Relationships

Relationships take time to blossom, especially romantic ones. It takes time and effort to establish good friendships and relationships with anyone. But, first, you need to build trust and know more about the other person. You may also want to experience things together with someone to see how they react and discover their beliefs and values in life. You won't suddenly become okay with someone. You need to know somebody well for them to have a special place in your life.

2. Dreams and goals

Many dreams and goals require a lot of time before they materialize in your life. The bigger the objective or purpose, the longer it can take to fulfill. While there can be shortcuts to fulfilling long-term goals, every shortcut you take can diminish the value of what you are seeking. There are plenty of ideas and learning one can derive during the journey of achieving something. Learning how to bounce back from failures and dealing with problems are things you won't know if something gets handed to you instantly.

3. Career

Getting a job promotion in whatever field of interest takes time. You can bribe your way to a rise or patronize your bosses by doing things that catch their attention, but you may do immoral things on your ascension. Getting promoted means doing good work constantly and delivering what's needed or even beyond your duties. It can take time to get recognized, but the effort is worth it once you get promoted. Besides, taking your time is essential since you must be familiar with all the required skills before moving to the next job rank.

4. Fulfillment and happiness

Attaining happiness is something that most people strive to get in their lives. People work for something to achieve fulfillment and eventually become happy. For some, happiness exists in a significant short burst when something eventful happens in life, such as birthdays, graduations, marriage, and promotions. You can feel happy when such things happen in your life. However, your happiness can fade away quickly because such eventful occasions don't always happen in life. One should realize that it is possible to feel happy even about the small daily things that occur in life. Happiness is always a choice, and in attaining it, it's better to experience it in a continuous momentum instead of taking shortcuts to obtain the feeling in one short moment. You don't need to rely only on big moments to feel fulfilled and happy; you can always feel this way daily if you choose to do it.

Shortcuts may not always work for us.

Shortcuts in life can work for a while. However, one may resort to them during high-pressure situations or emergencies when all options are already exhausted. Ideally, shortcuts should only be used as a last resort or even not if it involves a wrong choice.

Many things in life require time and effort before you obtain them. It's vital not to rush things and exert effort at the proper pace. You get to learn lessons along the way, and the value of what you want to obtain increases. Just look at the success stories of some of the most successful people in the world, and you will see that they, too, went through a lot before they got to where they are now. There's something of value when going through the proper way of doing things, and we become more appreciative of what we get afterward.