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| Shortcuts: Perspectives from a PT |
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by Matthew Goodemote MPT, Dip MDT - January 31, 2011
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When I think back to my days as a kid, I must confess I wanted to find shortcuts in just about every "job" I ever had. Saturday was “cleaning day “at the Goodemote homestead and I often got the glamorous jobs of dusting and vacuuming. I was "forced" to do these chores. The punishment was severe: no chores meant no Saturday morning cartoons. (Now, before a mob forms to find my parents and punish them for such cruel and unusual punishment, I think it is important to say I have made my peace with the ”torture” I suffered and have forgiven my parents for their actions. I appreciate the sentiment, but it is time for us all to move on!)
Anyway, as a youngster, I was not interested the chores that had been assigned to me, so naturally, I dragged my heels. In past articles, I have mentioned how misunderstood I was as a child and how being seen as "lazy" by my elders was a gross misinterpretation of my lack of interest. In the case of “cleaning day” jobs, I wasn’t “lazy,’ it was just that I didn’t want to vacuum. But I was expected to vacuum, so I wanted to get it over and done with. Well, I am about to reveal a deep dark secret from my past. So not only did I lack interest in doing the job, but I also tried to find shortcuts.
Trying to find the shortcuts to make my chores take less time was interesting to me- it challenged me to think. Soon the idea of finding the shortcuts to other things came to mind. This was interesting stuff! My attempts to find shortcuts did not stop at home. I sought to reduce my time and efforts anywhere I could. I remember my grandfather repeatedly telling me to "slow down, boy" and "stop racing your motors" or "stop spinning your wheels." Little did my Pop know that I was merely trying to find shortcuts for activities I didn't want to do so that I could get on with more important activities like playing and goofing off.
This "shortcut habit" of mine also carried over into sports. I am athletic by nature and physical things come fairly easy to me, so the thought of "hard work" on the playing field was about as appealing as vacuuming our stairs for the bazillionth time. No, I wanted the shortcut. I picked my moments by doing the things I liked to do all-out so that it seemed like I was "always" doing everything to my fullest. For example, I would "practice" at home. I would shoot basketball for hours...or at least I would be outside with a ball on the court for hours. In reality, I was playing more than practicing. I most certainly was not disciplined like my brothers, who worked on their skills. Not me. I worked on a few signature moves and the rest of the time I was counting down...3...2...1...and saying in my head, "Goodemote shoots with seconds remaining and...HE MAKES IT!! GOODEMOTE WINS THE CHAMPIONSHIP!! UNBELIEVABLE!!"
Then there was school. I actually loved school. It was one place where I can honestly say I tried my best...that is, until my freshman year of high school when I forgot my math book the night before an exam and I got a 94 on the test anyway. I remember it so clearly because that was the day I stopped working so hard at school. There had already been some indications a few years earlier that I was heading this way. When we got cable TV and I could watch cartoons during the week. I spliced a cable and hooked up an old black and white TV in my room and watched TV for HOURS! I remember being awake at 4 am watching "Kung Fu Theater." So my shortcutting became a habit and you could even say it became a lifestyle. I was always looking for the easy way out, the quick fix. I wanted to put as little work in as possible to still get the biggest rewards and results. I never saw that I was putting in plenty of thought, work and effort to find the shortcuts and make them work.
Because I was looking for shortcuts and the easier way of doing things, I framed my experiences using that perspective. It is almost as though I expected things to be that way and when they weren't, I worked hard at finding how they could be that way. So when people told me it was hard to start a business, I didn't believe it and I was determined to prove that it was easy, and sure enough, it was.
As I established my business, I worked hard at finding shortcuts, at making things look easy. I spent HOURS after work planning and changing things to make them smooth. I literally practiced how I said things and wrote hundreds of pages of ideas, phrases and points and repeated them incessantly. I read. Now when I say this, I know there are people who read as much or even more than I, but I held my own with this crowd and still do. I read books, several at a time. I read magazines, Internet articles, scientific journals, newspapers, medical books and spiritual/religious books.
I practiced meditation, and once again, a shortcut helped me to deepen my practice. I think this was easy for me because I started so early in my life with fantasy about making the winning shot. My visions were detailed and vivid. When I was 12 I learned "visualization," which is what I had been doing since I was 7-8 years old. And when I found out that meditation can start with visualization, I found it natural to focus my attention on breathing...but I wanted the shortcut, so I actually imagined what the lungs looked like and watched mine fill with air and then expell air. It turns out that this is an effective way to quiet the mind.
Ah, but here's where my story takes a turn. At the end of 2010, I suddenly found myself dealing with a lot of shortcuts that had come back to haunt me. My efforts to reduce my time and effort actually led to expending more effort and working longer. In the beginning, I thought this meant that my "shortcutting" efforts were to blame. But now I realize that there are no shortcuts, and for that matter there are no “long cuts.” The time and effort to do things amounts to the same- it is just a question of perspective. Consider all the time management ideas to help you stay focused. For some, like me, it is effort to keep focused. This effort ends up slowing me down, which of course feels like more effort- and then I really slow down. So in truth, the standard techniques to make me focused and productive actually lead me to be distracted and unproductive. It all boils down to what I discovered as a youngster- doing the things I enjoy seem to take no time at all. But when I look back, I can clearly see that I spent hours doing these things. And when I did, they led to a kind of confidence and a decisive way about me that allowed me to make certain decisions easily.
If I were to compare the hours spent trying to find shortcuts with the time spent doing things I loved doing that made it look like things were easy...I would say it's a tie. There is no real difference. The difference is in doing what you love versus doing things out of obligation. For me, one is not more important than the other. We all need to do what we need to do, and like my early experiences with household chores, we sometimes have to do things that we have no interest in doing. To me, finding and doing things that are "shortcuts" challenges me to experience the “do I have to do this?” activities in a more positive way. I now know that these shortcuts are actually taking me as long as if I just did it the way my grandfather suggested I do it so I could "slow down, boy." But there is a HUGE difference in how it feels.
I guess the point is to stop and realize that "shortcuts" often take as long as the "long cuts," and in truth, maybe there is no short or long way of doing something. Maybe there is only a way that feels right for you, and that way always takes you to where you belong. Whether your way is to look for shortcuts or to take it slow and steady, you may find that in the end, something you thought was the last thing you were interested in doing might just surprise you. Like that little boy who turned his chores into a challenge, you can do as the sages of old recommend and go with the flow!
 Matthew Goodemote is the founder and owner of Community Physical Therapy & Wellness in Gloversville, NY. He has degrees in Exercise Science, Health Science, Physical Therapy, and he is one of just over 250 in the world with a Diploma from the McKenzie International Spine Institute. Matthew is recognized as an expert in the fields of Physical Therapy, orthopedics, spinal disorders, sports medicine, and wellness. He is routinely called upon to offer tips and suggestions relating to health and wellness. His unique approach makes him a highly sought after expert at different ends of the media spectrum. He has received requests to participate in studies for scientific journals, and to write articles for trade magazines and popular press magazines such as Fitness to offer proven recommendations that stand the test of time. More of Matt’s blogs can be found at http://www.matthewgoodemote.com/blog/.
The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.
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