The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Good intentions means that you think you can fix the problem. Good intentions prevent you from coming clean.
In Breaking Bad, Walter White had many opportunities to take the off ramp, but he compounded bad decisions by trying to cover up his misdeeds. Coming clean would have been easier and better in the long run. The best time to come clean is when you first fuck up. The second best time is now.
Kicking the can down the road doesn't work because you don’t have a moral touchstone. You have loss aversion when things are bad, which leads to bad choices. And when times are good, greed leads to bad choices.
A moral north star gives you the space to come clean and reset.
> The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
For some reason, I forgot about this expression when I wrote my most recent post. 😅
I agree with all that. I'll add that because bad decisions compound, coming clean only gets harder the longer it's deferred.
That somewhat ties into a post I wrote way back where I explained the importance of asking questions at the start of learning something new. Even if those questions seem stupid. Because there's no better time to ask a stupid (looking) question than at the beginning. It only gets harder the longer it's deferred.
https://newsletter.belowthesurface.top/p/dive-10-2-simple-steps-to-reduce
But bad intentions come prevent me from coming clean 🤣