Most solutions are very simple. The most elegant solutions have a direct line to the problem. However, solutions with the easiest, direct routes to success are routinely bypassed in favor of indirect ones. In an effort to make this idea more concrete, a task that involves ten units of effort is deliberately inflated to 50 units. The only reason we do this is to inflate our ego. We have to make sure that the solution feels earned. Creating complexity from something relatively simple is a defense mechanism. The issue here is that we equate effort with worth. For something to be worth it, we need to overcome some form of suffering, even if that means we are the ones to bring it upon ourselves.

The Self-Imposed Struggle

We fabricate difficulty in hopes of being seen. We have to make sure that the people around us know we are hustling and overcoming the “needed” obstacles to ensure there is a solution. In this way, we earn more value for the effort we put in. This idea is what’s called the effort heuristic. The effort heuristic is a cognitive shortcut in which the mind equates the amount of effort expended with the value of the outcome. This mechanism operates on the single flaw that high effort = high value. If a task is done easily, the result is discounted.

With this, difficulty confirms the achievement’s legitimacy. By making the task more difficult, the mind can justify success and protect against suspicion that the outcome was mere luck or coincidence. As someone who works in digital marketing, I see many marketers take on unnecessary tasks only to prove to themselves and others that they know what they are doing. This mindset leads to practices like over-researching a simple solution, creating elaborate tracking systems for minimal activity, or deliberately delaying tasks until the last minute of a deadline to increase pressure. High stakes mean high importance.

Wearing Suffering as a Badge

Believing that difficult work equals high value translates external difficulty into internal self-worth. We use this need to achieve to validate ourselves personally. We need to feel like we’ve earned something through pure struggle. As a result, we tend to feel better about ourselves when we can say that we’ve sacrificed, endured, or suffered for an outcome.

This idea of suffering is more important than the quality of work put into the task itself. We are dedicated to the story struggle, not resolution. As a result, we prioritize endurance over efficacy. If the process is smooth, our worth is questioned, and our identity is threatened. We are determined to be the heroes of our story. To do so, we must increase the intensity.

The Need to Feel Useful

In other cases, we need to feel useful. The only way to do this is to create problems we can now be the solutions to. For whatever reason, when things are going smoothly, we feel threatened. Our problem-solving identity is not being used. Productivity tells us that we should always be working, and if there’s nothing to do, a crisis ensues. When an issue is resolved quickly and elegantly, the mind has nothing else to do. To avoid this feeling of unproductivity, it’s quite common for us to either immediately generate a new problem or, more commonly, recomplicate the previous solution. The perpetual moment is a signal to our ego that we are required and relevant.

The Need to Be in Control

When solutions are too easy, it may feel like we are not in control. We are quite suspicious of easy solutions, and in an effort to maintain control against any anomalies, we tend to add unnecessary steps. The creation of an elaborate process, including contingency plans, redundant checks, or unnecessary prerequisites, gives the impression of meticulous control. We guarantee the outcome by controlling every variable. Sometimes the simple solution is one step to certainty, but we’d rather add complexity because it keeps the mind busy managing the process rather than facing the outcome.

Removing the Identification with Effort

Many people believe they must choose a difficult path, but the issue here is not external. The problem is the identification with the belief that we need to do something to matter. It’s the belief that for me to accomplish something, it has to be difficult for it to be real. Elementary school taught us to keep it simple, stupid, but we don’t approve of the advice because we believe our value comes from how hard we work. If the work isn’t hard, we must manufacture its difficulty. The thing we constantly forget is that our value is never earned. It’s only recognized.

If we can understand that nothing is wrong with who we are and how we work, we can work without attachment to the outcome. The outcome in this case would be the external validation we receive from completing a task. We don’t need validation if we recognize our worth from the onset. The struggle we go through when we make things more difficult is simply the resistance to the idea that nothing is wrong. There are no deficiencies within yourself or your work that need compensation through unnecessary suffering or exertion.

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