There is something I have come to notice, especially in difficult seasons of life. When things feel overwhelming, when we are tired, uncertain, or struggling, our first instinct is often not to face the problem directly.
It is to escape it that we look for something easier, something quicker, and something that makes the discomfort go away, even if only temporarily. A distraction, a shortcut, and a way around the work, and if I am honest, I have done this too, plenty and plenty of times.
The Temptation of Shortcuts
When life becomes heavy, shortcuts become attractive. We tell ourselves:
- “I just need something to take the edge off.”
- “I will deal with this later.”
- “Let me just get through today first.”
And in that moment, shortcuts feel reasonable, because they promise relief without effort. They offer comfort without confrontation, and they give us a way to feel better without actually becoming better.
If we look around, we see this pattern everywhere. People are constantly searching for quick fixes.
- A habit without discipline
- Success without effort
- Healing without reflection
- Growth without discomfort
And in recent years, especially during uncertain and destabilizing times, this tendency has only increased. People turn to anything that offers immediate relief:
- Endless scrolling
- Entertainment that numbs the mind
- Advice that sounds good but requires no real change
- External solutions that promise internal peace
But there is a problem: Most of these things do not solve anything; they only delay what needs to be faced.
The Difference Between Relief and Progress
One of the most important distinctions I have learned is this: Relief is not the same as progress.
Relief makes us feel better temporarily, but progress makes us better permanently. Shortcuts are designed for relief; they help us avoid discomfort. They give us a break from pressure, but they do not move us forward. And if we rely on them too often than not, we begin to confuse feeling better with actually improving.
There is a reason we avoid the work, because doing the work requires us to face things we would rather avoid. It requires:
- Discipline when we feel unmotivated
- Honesty when we would rather justify ourselves
- Effort when we feel tired
- Patience when we want quick results
The work forces us to confront reality, and reality is not always comfortable, but that is exactly why it matters.
Every time we choose a shortcut instead of doing the work, something happens. We delay growth. We postpone change. We keep ourselves in the same place.
At first, it may not seem like a big deal, but over time, the effects become clear. Because the problems we avoided remain. The habits we delayed fixing stay the same, and the progress we wanted never comes.
And eventually, we may find ourselves asking: Why am I still here? The answer is often simple: Because we avoided the work required to move forward.
The Work We Avoid is Often the Work We Need
And here is something I have come to realize more deeply: The work we resist the most is often the work we need the most.
The conversation we avoid; the habit we keep postponing, and the decision we refuse to make. These are not random; they point directly to the areas where growth is required, and avoiding them does not make them disappear; it only makes them more difficult over time.
Real growth does not happen through avoidance; it happens through engagement. It happens when we:
- Face what is uncomfortable
- Do what is necessary
- Stay consistent even when it is hard
This is the part many people want to skip, but it can not be skipped, because growth is not something we find; it is something we build.
Doing the work is not always about big actions. Often, it is about showing up consistently; it is about:
- Taking small steps daily
- Staying committed even when progress is slow
- Continuing even when we do not feel like it
This kind of discipline does not feel exciting; it does not feel dramatic, but it is what creates real change.
Shortcuts may work in the moment; they may provide temporary relief, but they fail in the long run because they do not address the root of the problem. They treat symptoms, not causes, and because of that, the issue returns. Again and again, until we finally decide to face it.
I recently listened to an episode of a podcast on Daily Stoic: Why You Do This Work, in this episode, Ryan Holiday started by saying that there is an element of philosophy that is a lot of work, and that we do all this reading, do our morning and evening journaling. Maybe even attend meetup groups or even have pursued an advanced degree, or we’ve joined Daily Stoic Life and participate in discussions, or that we have discourse about Stoicism online wherever we can, and we went further to say that as rewarding as this might be, it’s also true that it comes at considerable commitment and expense, and this is precisely the part I want to talk about, the commitment and why we do the work.
Just as I asked myself just few seconds in the episode, Ryan Holiday went further to ask the exact same question, why should one do this? He talked about an exchange in Chicago, the new book by David Mamet (a fan of Stoicism), that captures the reasons well; where the characters, having found themselves on the wrong side of a mob war, are arming themselves and discussing where to hide a pistol for protection; then one reminds the other that “the one phrase you never want to use” when trouble arises, is “Wait here ‘till I fetch it.” Ryan Holiday went further to say in that episode that Marcus Aurelius would say something similar; that philosophy was designed to make us a boxer and not a swordsman, because a boxer is built with his weapon in hand(s) whereas a fencer has to fetch theirs.
Continue Reading: Why You Should Consistently Do The Work: Be The Boxer
Choosing the Hard Path
There is a choice we all have to make at some point. We can choose the easy path now and deal with the consequences later. Or we can choose the hard path now and build a better future.
The hard path requires effort; it requires discipline; it requires patience, but it leads somewhere. The easy path feels good in the moment, but it often leads nowhere.
At the end of the day, no one else can do the work for us. No one else can:
- Build our habits
- Make our decisions
- Change our lives
That responsibility belongs to us, and while that may feel heavy, it is also empowering, because it means that progress is within our control.
Proverbs 14:4 presents one of the most honest observations about life and productivity found in Scripture: “Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.”
At first glance, the verse seems almost mundane, and of course, a barn without animals is clean. But Solomon is not talking about housekeeping; he is talking about life, and this proverb exposes a hard truth many people resist: A life that avoids productive stress also avoids meaningful increase.
A clean crib looks orderly, peaceful, and controlled; there is no noise, no mess, no smell, and no disruption, but there is also no strength at work, no plowing, and no harvest coming.
In life, this “clean crib” represents a preference for comfort over contribution; it is the desire to avoid responsibility, risk, and strain in order to preserve ease. The problem is not the cleanliness itself; the problem is what is missing: Without oxen, nothing moves forward.
Continue Reading: A Clean Crib and an Empty Barn: The Cost of Avoiding Productive Work
Read Also: Beyond The Wall of Excuses: Moving Beyond The Language of “Why I Couldn’t”
Read Also: Compounding Requires Patience: The Discipline Most People Lack
Read Also: You Know What to Fix and Now is the Time!
Conclusion
It is easy to look for shortcuts, especially when life feels difficult. It is easy to choose comfort over effort, relief over progress, escape over engagement, but if we are honest, we know that shortcuts do not lead to real change; they only delay it.
The truth is simple: Doing the work matters. It is not always easy; it is not always comfortable, and it is not always quick. But it is necessary because the life we want; the growth we seek; the change we hope for can not be built on shortcuts.
It is built through effort! Through discipline! Through consistency! So the next time we feel the urge to look for an easier way, it may be worth asking ourselves: Am I looking for a shortcut or am I ready to do the work?
