Win at any Cost

I am generally an optimist and try to see the good in life. Every once in a while, however, one has to stop, look, and acknowledge the bad or negative experiences in life. Ironically, once you see and acknowledge the negative things, you can truly see the world as it is, including the flaws. Thankfully, I have found that this brings the positive things into even clearer focus.

With that said, today’s article is focused on the “win at any cost” attitude or thought that seems to have so deeply permeated our society in the last few years. As I look around, it seems to have impacted our business, politics, religion, sports, and social arenas of our daily lives. Not that it hasn’t always been present, but it feels as if that attitude is especially prevalent in modern times. In summary, the argument goes that winning is more important than anything else and that the ends justify the means.

Please don’t misunderstand me; we as humans need to put extremely hard thought and work into our efforts, and depending on the seriousness or the consequence of the issue, push ourselves far past what we think we are capable of. What I am talking about in this article is the phenomenon of when we cross the line from mere hard work and thought into that realm of something outside our personal laws, beliefs, or norms, and those of our society.

First, I want to acknowledge that once you are actively crossing the line, you may have a far better chance of succeeding in whatever it is you are trying to accomplish. For example, if one is engaged in a business transaction with one party playing by the rules and the other party willing to break the rules, then there is a clear advantage in favor of the rule-breaker. Consequently, breaking the rules can be a very attractive alternative.

Here is the catch, however: every time you cross that line, there is a cost. It’s not necessarily a financial cost or something tangible that you can see or measure, nor does it matter whether you get caught or not. Instead the cost is, that with each step over the line, one sells a little bit of their soul.

I have known people who have repeatedly sold their souls one little piece at a time, and I have known people who play within the lines most of the time, but when they did cross the line, it was a major breach. Regardless of whether one repeatedly sells their soul a little at a time or sells it all at once, they end up in the same place. And once your soul has been sold, it is very hard to go back and get it.

I’ll be honest; in today’s world I see so many people who have sold their soul, or at a minimum have sold a big portion of it, and while I feel anger, I nonetheless feel pity for them as well, for once you have sold your soul, you become cynical, bitter, hard, and cold to life and all the good things it has to offer.  Once you become cynical, it is much harder to enjoy and appreciate the actual, or honest wins in life. So ultimately it is counterintuitive to “win at any costs,” because it ultimately leads to less satisfaction and joy in life over an honest win. What irony is that?

In the end, there really is a hefty price for playing to “win at any cost,” not just to the individual, but to society at large.