People who cheat to win only do so because they don’t believe they can win within the established parameters of the activity. In some circles, winning at all costs is part of the culture. It’s all people care about. So they do “whatever it takes to win.” For them, cheating is just a part of winning. The people who think it’s okay to cheat in order to win are not strong, not just in character but in competence. Someone who feels the need to cheat must have some doubt about their abilities to win or succeed under standard circumstances.
Rules, guidelines, customs, procedures are all there for the purpose of governing fair play within a given system (justice), and to announce what is acceptable behavior for the given activity. Sports is an obvious example. There are rules. If you knowingly cheat, you are – without question – telling yourself, “I cannot win within these parameters. I cannot beat my opponent unless I cheat.”
The desire to cheat comes from insecurity. It comes from doubt. It comes from fear of losing. Truly strong people, truly confident people don’t care about losing. It doesn’t make them less of a person. Champions of all kinds have lost, and strong people take losses on the chin and move on. They know that life isn’t about not falling down, success isn’t about not failing. It’s getting up, it’s pressing on. Success is overcoming every obstacle, it’s not shying away from obstacles. Strength isn’t about never losing, it’s about how you lose and how you win. Losing with dignity and winning without cheating are the opposite of weakness. Weakness of mind, character, and skill are what lead to cheating.
It doesn’t matter what you’re cheating at. Why does someone cheat on a test? Because they can’t pass it otherwise or they’re too lazy to learn the material. In either case they are not competent to perform under the established guidelines. Rather than rise to the standard, they cheat. Cheaters are simply incapable or unwilling to rise to the standard.
Don’t cheat. Only weakness cheats. Rise to the standard. Be confident. Be strong. If you find yourself thinking about cheating, pause and ask yourself why you think you cannot win under established parameters. What bubbles up will be what you need to work on. Work hard, get competent, make it happen. Don’t make excuses, they’re just band-aids for what your deficiencies are. Same thing with cheating.