Shorting the Shortcut

Are all humans drawn to shortcuts like flies to a stable, or is it just I?

For over a decade I coached people building home-based businesses, primarily in network marketing. Franchises are similar. There is a blueprint, a proven path to success. Granted, not all leaders are competent articulating it. In fact, most “experts” can communicate only about 45% of what made them successful (UCLA study). Perhaps the ambiguous 55% is what challenges us to outthink, outsmart and outmaneuver those who are much further ahead in life than we.

Next time you tell someone there’s a proven way to do something, shown over and over to be successful, watch then as he or she tries something different, if only to show there is more than one way to do anything. I don’t deny that, quite.

In the recruiting business (multilevel marketing), newbies go to the lectures, read the books and listen to the tapes or CDs. Then they come up with their own ideas. Their leader says, “If you get an original idea, take a cold shower then call me.” Truth be told, some of those original ideas are better than the 5-decade-old model upon which they were built. But most aren’t. The plan, as presented, is the shortcut. Everything else is an attempt to trim attributes, some of which may be essential to success. How would the newcomer know which?

The same happens in all aspects of life. Take Weight Watchers for example. Fruits, vegetables, proteins, fats, water and activity are all deemed essential to success. Someone trying to shorten the weight-release process may think omitting fats will speed things along. Yet it’s been proven time and again that omitting all fats slows weight loss. As does reducing water. Omitting exercise. Or doing only the same exercise you’ve always done. To get better results, WW says, you must do more.

Oops! No shortcut there. Except doing more IS the shortcut.

You’ve probably had great sex without foreplay. Did you ever think that all that transpired the preceding hours – or days – was the foreplay…that thing (those things) that got you so in the mood your sweet-talk was simply “NOW PLEASE”?

I love efficiency, two birds with one stone and all that. Have you noticed that in modern action pictures machine guns never kill as many people as a single bullet did in the films of 40 years ago? There’s another “shortcut” that doesn’t work: automatic weapons.

If you’re having less than the success in life you desire, take a look at your franchise. Are you cheating yourself by trying to shortcut the shortcuts? Just a question…