There’s no shortcut
Most people do not want to work hard, and yet they want to achieve that big dreams of theirs – becoming a millionaire, running a successful business, achieving financial freedom, etc. To be honest, it’s close to impossible and they themselves know this. That’s why they resort to shortcuts. They want the easy way out.
Of course it would be ideal if we don’t need to work hard to achieve our dreams – minimal effort but tonnes of reward. Sounds cool huh? But sadly, the reality is that there’s no shortcut in this world. There’s no quick way of getting rich, no sure way to get 1st class honor, no easy way to win the girl’s heart, and no effortless way of starting a successful business.
Yes, you can argue there ARE shortcuts out there and some people have become successful due to these shortcuts. But how sure are you that’s really the case? Are you sure these people did nothing but using the shortcuts? No additional efforts at all? Most often than not, these success stories have been made up in order to make you believe in them. The truth is that these individuals did make a lot of additional efforts in order to be where they are now – and perhaps, making you believe them is one of the efforts.
And if there really are shortcuts, those shortcuts can be rather risky. For example, you can try to cheat in exam if you want to get first class honor. But you should also know that once you’ve been found out, you’re practically screwed and chances are, you will be left with nothing – not even your degree. So if you still think it’s worth taking the risk, then good luck.
Same thing goes for all the shortcuts that you wish to take. The risks are there and they can be quite big risks. Think about it and decide whether it is worth it to take such high risks, or just try your best and work for your dreams without taking any shortcuts. For me, working hard for my dreams sound like a more interesting and safer thing to do. Furthermore, I am not someone who believes in shortcuts. They just don’t seem to exist in my life (so far).
Someone once told me, the leading cause of being rich slow is conscience or sense of honesty. You’ve lost some money in the market right? Well your money didn’t vanish. It ended up in someone else’s pocket. Its not con-men. Its stock and money market punters who lose millions in a blink of an eye, all legit and over the counter. If they can lose in a flash, the recipients of their money also make a fortune in a flash (short cut?). That’s why many people love being brokers. Whatever hapens to your money, they win.
Damien Tan
11 Nov 09 at 11:35 am
The fortune teller once said that I need to work hard in order to achieve something in my life. So here I am, working hard at everything I do, not because of what the fortune teller said, but because I believe that everybody is given at least one opportunity to do something BIG, and I just want to make sure that I don’t mess it up.
Fortune teller? What fortune teller? Naah..
pelf
11 Nov 09 at 4:33 pm
@Damien Tan
Mmmm in a way, what you said is true. If one can be ruthless, cruel and dishonest, he/she can become rich in a shorter amount of time. But we’re just talking about being rich. What about creating something really worthwhile like an artwork, or a business which sustains, etc?
Hahha, i think too many people are jumping into the financial sector because its the place where one can earn the most money.
@pelf
that fortune teller of urs was just looking for the safest thing to say 
actually, fortune teller or not, i believe most people need to work hard.
Alvin Lim
11 Nov 09 at 11:02 pm
I thought you suppose to work smart , not work hard ?
So you’re saying that , the difference between people who are up there and us , is they work harder ?
gapnap
12 Nov 09 at 4:03 pm
Aren’t we are all suppose to take the hard road down..the long road…so we can learn from our mistakes..
kitkat
12 Nov 09 at 5:05 pm
@gapnap
we’re supposed to work hard and smart. working hard with the wrong approach can sometimes be pretty useless and time wasting. but working smart without working hard is not good either – that’s the shortcut that most people wanna take ….the same way to success, minus the hard work.
People who are up there? well, they could be those dishonest people Damien mentioned, some very very lucky fellas, or people who have worked hard in the past (and most of them are still working hard).
@kitkat
learning from mistakes is jz part of the journey. and the journey is probably a long one since there’s no short cut – not for honest people at least.
Alvin Lim
12 Nov 09 at 5:46 pm
ahhh..i wish i was the very very lucky fellas then
So Damien is classify under what ? he don’t work hard also . Everyday blogging and sit at airport only .
gapnap
12 Nov 09 at 11:08 pm
@gapnap
Isn’t it obvious? Damien doesn’t work hard. So there are only 2 possibilities left – either he’s very lucky or he’s that dishonest fella who has been conning people around
Alvin Lim
13 Nov 09 at 8:08 am
There was no fortune teller, I made that up
pelf´s last blog ..Turtle Blogathon was fun!
pelf
16 Nov 09 at 2:56 pm
@pelf
aiks. =_=”
Alvin Lim
16 Nov 09 at 8:20 pm