The False Verdict of Easy

Metaphorical Narrative

A client stands at the base of a mountain, pointing at it like it’s a small hill.
You describe the cliffs, the storms, the altitude.
They chip away: “What if we remove this? And this?”

But the mountain remains a mountain.

Eventually, they sigh, “Too complex. Let’s leave it.”
Old you would have grabbed their “easy” verdict like a secret command, sprinting uphill, blaming yourself for not climbing faster.
New you lets the false verdict collapse into dust.

Core Insight

Complexity doesn’t shrink just because someone wishes it did. Their “easy” verdict is nothing more than external stress projected onto you. If you take it on, you inherit their anxiety and grind yourself into a hustle that was never yours.

Executive function (EF) control means you hold the line:

• Your read of the terrain is valid.
• Their denial is theirs to carry.
• You don’t hustle to meet an unreasonable wish.

Saturday Experiment

Next time someone calls your mountain “easy”:

1. Name the reality once, clearly.
2. Refuse the false contract of their simplification.
3. Let them walk away if they must. Their stress is not your stress.

Sunday Reflection

Observer Mode notes in third person:

• When did they mistake someone else’s projection for truth?
• What stress did they almost take on that never belonged to them?
• How did their energy shift when they left the false verdict behind?