Cheating your way to success!

Last night (March 25, 2012) was one of those Catan board game nights, which off late has turned into a weekly ritual. During the final minutes of the second game, I faced a moral dilemma on whether or not to end my 2-game losing streak (which was preceded by a 5 game winning streak) by cheating on my opponents. I almost went through with the plan and claimed victory, but then retreated for 2 reasons.

First - the obvious - guilt. The sheer guilt from an act of cheating will far out-weigh the happiness borne out of victory. Apart from avoiding guilt, there is also the added perk of happiness obtained from standing by the side of "truth". I still pat myself on the back for honestly returning Rs. 1,25,000 ($2,500) in excess pay as an intern at Cigna.

Second - and equally important - is the fear of cheating becoming a habit. Once you get into the habit of cheating as a means of achieving even small things (such as a victory in a board game), then you will progressively start cheating in every aspect of life until it spirals out of control. You will not strive hard to achieve any thing in life and instead take the shortcut to success. I firmly believe that success will last in the long run "only" if achieved through hard work and honest means.

That night, as I went to bed, I thought about how I can improve my strategy to win the next Catan game, and once again patted myself on the back for staying honest. Sweet dreams.