The Shortcut is Costing You More Than You Think

I often get my best insights out on the trails, and this week it was the trail itself that became the teacher.

As I was climbing a steep hill, huffing and puffing my way to the top, I noticed something I had seen many times before but never really stopped to consider. Certain sections of the trail had been intentionally blocked off with fallen branches and sharp sticks. The Forest Service had carefully placed them there so people — yes, us humans — couldn’t cut the switchbacks.

For those of you who don’t spend a lot of time hiking, a switchback is a trail that intentionally winds back and forth up the mountain. Instead of going straight up, it slowly zigzags its way to the top. At times, it can feel annoying. You can see where you want to go, so why not just cut straight up the hill and get there faster?

Because the switchbacks are there for a reason.

Picture from the actual trail I was on when this insight came to me!

And as I stood there, it struck me that they are also a beautiful metaphor for life.

We want shortcuts.

We want to skip the hard conversation, avoid the heartbreak, bypass the grief, rush through uncertainty, and fast-forward to the part where everything feels better again. We want the promotion without the setbacks, the business without the failures, the healthy relationship without the difficult conversations, and the wisdom without the experience.

But life doesn’t work that way.

We are here to experience all of it! The winding paths and the steep climbs. The beautiful views followed by the disappointments. The moments that take our breath away and the moments that leave us on our knees.

Getting fired from a job. A breakup. The death of someone we love. A business venture that falls apart after months of effort. (I have personally experienced all of these- hard but grateful!) None of us gets a pass. We all go through these experiences because they shape us, soften us, humble us, and ultimately help us grow.

I laugh sometimes because we silly humans think we can outsmart life. We try to cut the trail. We avoid, distract, numb, and bypass. We look for the quickest way through pain.

But what happens when everyone cuts the switchbacks? The trail erodes, and then the hillside becomes unstable. Rain turns the shortcut into a riverbed. The trees fall, and landslides happen. Eventually, the very trail we were trying to improve is destroyed.

It’s no different in our own lives when we shortcut our grief, our anger, our fear, or our disappointments; they don’t disappear, they settle underneath the surface and create erosion within us. The instability eventually shows up in our relationships, our health, our work, and our leadership.

The truth is, we can’t avoid life, but we can choose how we move through it. It starts with awareness and accepting the true path.

This is where Energy Leadership becomes so powerful. When we are below the line, we resist the switchbacks. We blame the trail. We complain about the zigzags. We get angry that life isn’t unfolding according to our plan. We ask, “Why is this happening to me?” (hint: level 1 victim)

But when we move above the line, our perspective shifts. We may not like the climb, but we become curious about it. We ask, “What is this teaching me? Who am I becoming because of this experience? How can I walk this part of the trail with more grace?” That’s what I did yesterday on the trail as sweat poured down my back.

The trail itself doesn’t change, and the switchbacks remain, but our experience of them changes completely.

Life is not a problem to solve; it is a journey to experience.

So don’t shortcut the switchbacks. Let yourself experience the whole trail. The joy, the pain, the uncertainty, the beauty, and even the steep climbs that leave you breathless.

Life is offering you all of herself, so you might as well slow down, take in the view, and walk it with an open heart.

With presence,