Stop maximizing everything.

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We're obsessed with the maximization of everything.

Maximum productivity. Maximum efficiency. Maximum results. We optimize our workouts, our work, our writing, our sleep, our meals, and our calendars.

I know people who track every calorie, every minute, and every dollar in pursuit of squeezing the absolute most out of everything.

But there’s a big problem with trying to live in the “maximization culture.”

It has diminishing returns.

I spent years trying to optimize everything in my life and business. I tracked all of my conversion rates down to multiple decimal points. I A/B tested 20+ versions of landing pages to try and find the perfect one. I even started tweaking my calendar into 15-minute increments to “get the most” out of the day.

The result is that I was miserable. Constantly frustrated that I wasn't getting “enough” out of everything. Especially when I compared myself to other folks online who seemed to be “crushing it” with their perfect life routine.

The breaking point came many years ago during a vacation with my wife. I'd optimized our whole trip. Planned the perfect restaurants, activities, and had our calendars nailed down to the minute. But when we were late for a dinner reservation because we were enjoying a walk, I got frustrated.

My wife, fed up, finally looked at me and said, “What’s the point of all of this if we can’t even enjoy our walk?”

Those words helped snap me back to reality.

What the f*ck am I doing?

I'd become so fixated on getting the absolute most out of everything that I'd forgotten why I was doing any of it in the first place.

The truth is that life exists in the margins and the unoptimized spaces.

Think about your best memories in life. Were they planned down to the minute, or were they more spontaneous? Were you optimizing, or were you simply…there?

When you maximize everything, you leave no room for excitement or unexpected moments that actually make your life worth living.

So, instead of trying to maximize the result of every single thing we do, what if we just try our best to show up as a version we’re proud of?

I'm starting to apply this everywhere in my life and business. Instead of trying to nail that 4:38 a.m. influencer workout routine, I work out until I feel like I’ve done my best. And I don’t need a cold plunge or sauna in my house to have a good morning. I have a simple routine that works for me and the lifestyle I want to live. And I no longer try to maximize every business opportunity. I just focus on a few that bring me profit, joy, and happy customers.

Since I’ve stopped trying to maximize everything, I'm still accomplishing a lot of what I set out to do. I'm not burning my mental energy on optimization, so I have more space to actually think.

What are you trying to maximize that might actually be costing you?

Maybe the answer isn't to optimize further. Maybe it's to optimize less.

Hell, maybe it's time you just let life happen.

I’m sure glad I did.

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What’s your take on today’s topic? Do you agree, disagree, or is there something I missed?

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