I can hear you now!
I have a shortcut to work…
or a cooking shortcut… or a faster way to…
or a better way…
And, if you have an IT perspective, you would say that is bunk… Every program has a shortcut to some longer action by simply knowing the particular keystrokes to accomplish the same thing that requires others to use a combination of keyboard and mouse…
In fact, most computer Icons are simply shortcuts to execute the program without going through the menus!
Okay. So maybe there are some shortcuts out there but most are generally planned shortcuts to making your life easier. You just have to know the shortcuts exist, choose the ones that fit your situation and make them a part of your planned response to doing something.
You see, someone thought out the kind of shortcut that made sense and then prepared it to function the way they thought it should, and then they gave you that “shortcut” to make your life easier.
However, you need to know that when you press certain shortcut keys on your keyboard, certain things are going to happen whether you wanted them to or not. CTRL+ALT+Delete anyone?
In fact, it’s just like a “typing” quiz I had to take to prove how fast I could type. Typically, when all things are working well (keyboard, program, and fingers), I can type about 110 words per minute (wpm). When I was typing in the test, I took all the shortcuts I knew to do certain editing things, and it dinged my speed test because I did not follow their much slower instructions!
Okay. Maybe there are some shortcuts.
Okay. So maybe there are some shortcuts if you define them as “quicker” ways to do a task. Depending on traffic conditions, we all look for shortcuts to get to a destination. And, lest the shortcut gets bottle-necked, then I normally keep the shortcut a secret! That sounds like the person who has a secret fishing hole where they always get what they want, and they never share. Why? With me, it’s a secret only as long as I don’t tell anyone!
I’ve said this too often, but at my current age, it’s going to happen this time!
I plan on getting some pieces of my life in order.
There will be some shortcuts available, but most items will simply require hard work, day in, day out. Perhaps some shortcuts will shave some time, but there is a plate full of stuff that needs to be handled and I need to get them ordered so they can be managed.
Shortcuts can help order our lives, but they cannot replace getting a task done.
No matter which way you go you must simply finish the job.
Does the Bible Talk About Shortcuts?
I was thinking about all the examples in scripture that dealt with organizing certain things in order to make the workflow better or to make the end result easier.
When it comes to making things right in our life, there’s no quicker way than simply owning up to our choices, make it right, and live without doing it again.
Joseph answered Pharaoh’s vision with some clarity that could only come when you understand God’s way. It concerned a vision about some fat and lean years coming. The Pharaoh listened to him and put him in charge of organizing the good years in order to ride out the bad years. (Genesis 41:28-36)
Then, I think about the wisest man who describes the ant that stores up food for the offseason.
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. (Proverbs 6:6-8 KJV)
Okay. It’s not a shortcut per se, but when you think about those who scurry around at the last minute to fill their larders for the coming season… Well, that ant had the right idea.
Keep doing what you know to do
and when the time comes, you’re done!
Even Jesus!
Even Jesus said something about having things prepared and in order before putting your hands to a task. In my various collections of scripture, these saying are all about preparing to be his disciple. You must count the cost to see if you can become his disciple.
For which of you, intending to build a tower,
does not sit down first and count the cost,
whether he has enough to finish it—
lest, after he has laid the foundation,
and is not able to finish,
all who see it begin to mock him, saying,
‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
Or what king, going to make war against another king,
does not sit down first and consider whether he is able
with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
Or else, while the other is still a great way off,
he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.
(Luke 14:28-32 NKJV)
This, in my mind, goes back to a principle I learn in the early ’80s. Prior Proper Planning Prevents Problems. I call this the 5 P’s to success.
Here’s My Thought Today
Okay. I’ll give you the warm fuzzy feeling that there are opportunities to follow shortcuts to a faster result. Most are preplanned routines created by someone who wants to help you do things quicker. And, there are times we “find our own” way through something and are surprised when we get to the other side more quickly. We found a shortcut! Hurrah!
Still. There are probably no shortcuts to simply doing what needs to be done and planning out the tasks in advance to know the timing required. Then. Simply. Do. It.
A more recent term has risen and you can find this all over the place. H-A-C-K. How to Hack Your Life, Weightloss, Retirement, Getting Rich, Starting a Business… For some, the concept of Hacking is related to bursting through security platforms protecting computerized assets. For others, it’s simply how to create shortcuts and faster pathways to get what you want.
Through the years I’ve learned that most of the time the simplest way to get something done is by considering examples of those who have been successful, then creating my own path forward. Then. Simply. Do. It.
“You were born to win, but to be a winner,
you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.” ~Zig Ziglar