As I see it, every action has a cost and when playing the short-game, many go for daily wins that can feel great, but don't necessarily lead to accomplishing the long-term goals. The problem is that the feeling of winning is addictive, even if the cost of winning is more than the value of the prize.
What reminds me that old saying attributed to Dalai Lama and sometimes also to Buddha:
As someone else said, people spend their time worrying about life after death, without considering if there is life before.