You’ve heard the saying before: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
I think these days it’s paved with convenience.
We’ve built a world obsessed with making everything easier, faster, and more comfortable—and it’s slowly killing us. Not in the dramatic, apocalyptic way movies show, but in small, quiet ways that eat away at our capability, our freedom, and our awareness.
We wanted instant results. Now we’re impatient.
We wanted comfort. Now we’re fragile.
We wanted automation. Now we’re dependent.
We got exactly what we asked for—and a whole lot more we didn’t.
The Slow Death of Effort
I grew up in a world where you had to try.
You fixed things yourself. You figured stuff out. You failed, learned, and got better because you didn’t have a machine or an app doing it for you.
Today, effort has become optional. You can tap a screen and have food, rides, or validation show up in minutes. Don’t know something? Ask Google. Don’t want to cook? Tap a button. Don’t want to think? Let the algorithm decide.
We call this “progress,” but convenience without consciousness is just dependency in disguise.
Every time we trade effort for ease, we lose a piece of our resilience.
Death by a Thousand Shortcuts
Convenience is like a drug: cheap, addictive, and numbing.
We drive half a mile instead of walking.
We scroll instead of thinking.
We click “I agree” without reading.
We let devices track our lives because it’s “easier.”
We’ve built entire industries around avoiding discomfort—fast food, fast fashion, fast “content.”
Even in cybersecurity, people would rather buy another product than fix the process that’s broken.
Shortcuts make us feel smart, but they’re usually the reason we end up lost.
The Security Side of Convenience
This one hits close to home.
Almost every major data breach or ransomware incident I’ve investigated could be traced back to someone prioritizing convenience over security.
No MFA because it’s a “pain.”
Reused passwords because “no one would ever guess that.”
Critical patches delayed because “we’ll get to it later.”
We’ve created an environment where laziness has consequences—just not for the people who caused it.
We act like hackers are our biggest problem, but the truth is we’re often our own worst enemy.
The Myth of “Time Saved”
We love to tell ourselves that convenience “saves time.”
Sure, you might save an hour ordering groceries online instead of going to the store. But what do you do with that hour?
Most people don’t use it to connect with family, rest, or reflect.
They scroll, stream, or work more.
We don’t save time—we just waste it faster.
Real value doesn’t come from how much time you shave off a task. It comes from what you do with the time you have.
The Lost Art of Doing Things the Hard Way
Every so often, I try to do something the old-fashioned way. Not to be nostalgic, but to remember what it feels like to earn something.
Cook from scratch. Fix something broken. Write by hand.
Do it without shortcuts, automation, or AI.
It’s not about rejecting progress—it’s about staying human in a world trying to automate humanity out of existence.
Effort breeds confidence. Friction builds skill. Struggle teaches meaning.
Without those things, life becomes nothing more than a series of easy transactions.
Where This Road Leads
If we keep chasing convenience, we’ll end up passengers in our own lives—watching algorithms make our choices and machines live them out for us.
That’s the real road to hell: a perfectly optimized world where nothing is earned, nothing is learned, and no one remembers how to live without Wi-Fi.
How to Turn It Around
Here’s how I’m trying to fight back. Maybe it’ll help you too.
- Choose friction on purpose. Don’t automate everything. Do some things the slow, manual way just to stay sharp.
- Stay curious. Ask “how does this actually work?” before trusting it.
- Relearn skills that make you independent. Whether it’s tech, tools, or life basics—reclaim your capability.
- Value depth over speed. Anything worth doing well takes time.
- Be grateful for struggle. It’s not punishment—it’s practice.
Final Thought
We’re not doomed. We’re just distracted.
Convenience isn’t evil—it’s seductive. It promises freedom while quietly taking it away.
The fix is simple: stay aware. Make your choices on purpose. Know the tradeoffs.
Convenience should serve us, not own us.
Author’s Note
Written from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico—where sunsets still demand patience, a cold drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) still tastes better when earned, and the best conversations happen without phones in hand.
Very well stated! Sharing with my kids!!
Happy to hear it! Your compliment means a lot!