Today I was doing some repair work around the house, and discovered that the problem I was trying to fix was actually due to an improper repair done years ago. Sometime in the past, someone had taken a shortcut, which helped “fix” the issue temporarily. But now, years later, I was dealing with the same thing again, only this time the problem had grown worse.
I learned that while the temporary solution helped mask the problem, it never dealt with the root cause. And since the root cause was never dealt with, the underlying problem continued to grow into a bigger issue day by day, conveniently hidden from view by the cheaper, quicker fix.
And that’s the problem with shortcuts. They may get you what you want in the short term, but in the long term they can actually cost far more—whether it be money, time, energy, stress—than doing it right the first time. They may make things look good on the outside, but may not actually deal with the core issues. And like today, sometimes the shortcuts we take can end up impacting people beyond us who will eventually have to deal with the problem. But more often than not, we’re the ones who end up paying.