We want to be picked, seen, noticed, and rewarded for our efforts. Too often, we prioritize the shortcut. We flock to social media for tiny micro-hits of fame and recognition. We claim we don’t care about the likes, we just want to stay in touch, but the thrill we get when someone interacts with our digital avatar is addictive and we can’t deny the pleasure of the small ego strokes we receive.

This is the easy way out. Small effort, for small rewards. Click, click, click. Another piece of content up, hashtagged, and shared with the world. “Felt cute, might delete later.” Later meaning if the ego strokes didn’t come fast and heavy enough to satisfy the itch and ego.

This behavior comes with an enormous opportunity cost. The cost of not taking the time and extra effort to do the bigger, harder, more involved expression. To write, to paint, to start that project that scares you, or to call the person you wanted to see your post in the first place…the real work and the stuff that brings true joy to life.

It’s glorifying the here and now rather than nurturing the patience it takes to make something great.

Little actions add up, but when your little actions exist on a platform you don’t own, they add up to very little you can truly be proud to show the world by saying “here, I made this.”