Are Shortcuts the New Way of Life?

I don’t understand how people don’t want to be better. These days, all I see around me are people trying to take shortcuts. Shortcuts at work, and shortcuts in life.

I was taught never to cut corners. You may get away with 9 times out of 10. But, the 10th time may just be such a disaster that you never recover from it. 

Yet, the people who do take shortcuts seem to have won the race of life. Sometimes I feel like my process of doing the right thing hasn’t panned out very well. I doubt my process. I wonder if I’m really the one who’s stupid here. 

I spend a lot of time reading, and learning, in the hopes of being a better version of myself. And for the most part, I know I am. I know that I am more knowledgeable and it’s often useful. 

But, from where I stand it seems like having any kind of real knowledge is no longer valued. A person with a camera phone, who can make videos of nonsense can make more money than money. What’s worse, they can spread wrong information and still make more money than me. 

While the value of hard work may still be rewarded somewhat, the value of knowledge doesn’t seem to be. I’ve always strived to work harder than other people and learn more than other people in my field of work. I didn’t want to take shortcuts because I believed in climbing up the ladder the right way. 

Unfortunately, I find myself left behind while others who’ve actually used the shortcuts have moved up the ladder and now, it feels like there’s no more space for me. 

I don’t know if I’m just demotivated because of the chaos going on in the world or I really feel that people need to make more of an effort. It’s become very exhausting.