A Bit of Discomfort Today Means Steady Growth Tomorrow
Why we instinctively avoid what helps us most (And how to retrain ourselves)
The other day I witnessed a scene that's far too common. It shows a natural human instinct that robs us of time and fulfillment.
It was simple: I was helping set up tents for the village festival my parents were involved in. Two women nearby debated where to buy food for the festival.
They were deciding which stores to visit. Since they were buying on behalf of an association, they could shop at wholesale stores offering discounts for large quantities. They needed kilos of meat. For me, it was a no-brainer.
But one of the women commented, "Yeah, but you have to complete a whole procedure to sign up and be allowed to shop there. It's a pain!"
So, they discarded that option. They started considering doing a tour of the nearby supermarkets, since there was no store selling everything they needed.
Do you see the problem?
Trading convenience for long-term losses
The subscription procedure to the wholesale store was certainly a hassle. But it meant just losing half an hour to understand and fill out a form, and maybe wait some time to receive the confirmation (applications are probably handled manually).
The alternative would have saved this initial hassle, but it would have made shopping longer. They had to visit many stores and hunt for offers.
But the procedure was a one-time thing. So, after completing it, they just wouldn't have needed to think about it again. Every year they could just go to the same store and enjoy the time and money savings.
So, let's summarize the alternatives:
On one side, you endure a one-time hassle to enjoy lifetime savings.
On the other side, you save yourself the hassle, but every year you have to reconsider your choice and visit multiple stores, hoping to find good prices when you need them.
For me, it's like choosing to take the stairs to the 10th floor when there's an elevator. But this mindset is the default for us humans.
Slow motion self-sabotage
I see it every day in much higher stakes situations. My clients are small businesses and freelancers. I create systems that automate their processes and improve their productivity.
Nowadays, most business processes can be automated reliably and cheaply. Automations save so much time that the initial investment is easily recouped within a month.
So, all of my proposals are accepted, right?
Not at all! I know Italian businesses don't swim in cash, so I set very reasonable prices. But some still don't buy.
Sometimes, they see the expenditure as a loss, not as an investment with a quick return. Other times, they don't want to think about systematizing their procedures. Often they don't want to spend time thinking about the problem (I can't do everything myself; I still need them to explain their processes and consider the alternatives).
The status quo seems safer. The day-to-day seems more urgent.
Faulty instincts
Humans are short-term thinkers:
We have a poor perception of how we use our time.
We're bad at evaluating how long tasks actually take.
Our minds prefer homeostasis—in other words, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
We’d rather coast on autopilot than step into something unknown, even if it promises less effort and/or better results. But every improvement requires initial effort, has an upfront cost, involves decision-making, and carries some risk—even if it's just not meeting our own expectations.
This infuriates me
We waste huge chunks of our lives. We spend hours on tasks we could avoid or put too much time and effort into things we could easily streamline, delegate, or remove entirely.
As a consequence, we miss many opportunities, because we don't have the time, the energy, or the mental space.
I've been fortunate to develop the opposite mindset early in my life. I'm constantly reviewing my actions and plans:
Do I really have to do this?
Is this the most efficient way to do this?
Do I have to do it right now?
I always assume the answer is no, unless it's something I've already optimized multiple times.
This mindset constantly improves my life. I constantly save time and energy that I can invest in what's really important. I'm more present when it really counts.
Here's what I mean. I sing and play guitar in a tribute band. We're not professional musicians with an entire crew at our service. Before every gig, we have to set up everything: amplification, lights, microphones, cables (lots of cables!). We have to deal with the inevitable hiccups every venue brings.
With a sloppy approach, we had to be there hours before the show. Instead, we arrive at most two and a half hours earlier. In less than 90 minutes we unload the cars, set everything up, and do the soundcheck. Then we have dinner and twiddle our thumbs for another 30 minutes. After the concert, we're even faster at tearing down everything.
Our bassist is ecstatic. He played and provided sound services for dozens of groups. They've never been so fast.
The optimized process makes everything smoother. There's more room to actually enjoy performing.
I know your objection
"I don't want to live like this! Life is something to enjoy, not a factory that must be profitable at all costs!"
I get this. And I agree. But only in part.
I'm aware this mindset leads to extra work. You're constantly reconsidering the way to do things. You might need to research new approaches, learn new skills, or try new tools. I've even spent precious hours testing alternative processes before realizing they were actually worse and having to scrap them.
But in the long run, across many attempts, the successes greatly outnumber the failures and my life overall improves.
There is the risk of overoptimizing. But from what I see, most people are far from it. Instead, they are slogging through lives that burn them out and missing many promising boats.
How to ease into a more fruitful way of living
Modern life is so stressful that the resistance to this mindset is inevitable. But you don't need to suddenly become a total optimizer.
You can just sample what you can gain from the mindset I described. Find a smaller challenge:
consider how you can optimize one task,
consider how you can optimize one area of your life,
consider how you can optimize a day or moment in your typical day.
Run this experiment for a couple of months. Then see what you have gained.
It will inspire you to run more, larger experiments. It will snowball from there.