Deception
When you put your fingers inside a Chinese finger trap, you cannot free yourself by pulling your fingers outward. Instead you have to push your fingers inward.
This is deceptive. The stepping stone to more distance between your fingers is less distance.
This is the way the world works. To reach ambitious objectives often requires taking unintuitive intermediate steps. Nonetheless, we often assume the most direct step is the most promising.
Assume your objective were to be rich: Are you sure that earning more money actually brings you closer to your goal?