Pride will take the long way around just so nobody sees it asking for directions.

Not wanting to look lost is a strong enough feeling to override actually getting there. The cost never arrives as one obvious moment, so it stays invisible: an extra hour, a worse grade, a problem that stayed a problem. Pride protects the appearance of competence at the expense of the real thing.

Notice the thing you have been quietly stuck on for more than a week. Ask the most direct version of the question to whoever knows. Almost nobody thinks less of a person for asking, and everybody remembers who kept guessing.