Are You Overoptimizing Your Life? Finding Balance In A Topsy-Turvy World

Beware over-optimization.  You have a nice girlfriend, you walk away thinking there will be somebody totally and utterly perfect out there.

You have a nice career?  You are always thinking there is something else out there and another career path that will be even better.

You have a nice home and live in a nice city?  You wonder if another locale might not be a better fit.

You like your major in college?  You spin your wheels over-thinking your studies.

Find the Right Balance….

I’m not saying don’t ever make changes or adjustments to your life.  However, I am saying that, in addition to complacency and staying too long on a specific trajectory, there is another danger: over-optimizing and trying to make reality perfect.  This can lead to starting over again and again–in relationships, careers, business ventures, even hobbies.  It can keep you stuck at the starting line, perpetually.

There is an art to life, to balancing between making the changes necessary to keep you fresh and engaged and staying on a path long enough to develop deep expertise and allow your efforts to bloom.

Keep this in mind.  Avoid over-optimizing, and you will go farther and find more success.

(Find additional thoughts on over-optimization and finding balance here.)