You Won. Now What?

To readers of PaleoHacks, Lifehacker, Get Rich Slowly, 37 Signals, StevePavilina, Quantified Self:

YOU WON!

You’ve found the perfect…

[diet, productivity system, way to save money, workflow, source of inspiration, regimen]

You’ve done it. We all agree. Now what?

Remember, it’s bad strategy to go past the mark you aimed for. When we look at our health, our money, our productivity or anything else that takes our time and energy, the metric that matters is ROI. Nature has given us a wonderful guide to help with that: the law of diminishing returns. Yet, you stuck with it long past then.

You spent so many hours slaving over improvements at the margins. So many pedantic debates on the internetbecause you had to be right. How much time did you spend trying to be a better person? A better father? A better friend? You know definitively whether legumes are good for you or not, but whether you are good or not remains less clear.

What should you focus on instead? Start with the things that matter: Philosophy. Empathy. Goodness. And from there, proceed to basically just about everything else. You know, stuff that matters.

 

Written by Ryan Holiday
Ryan Holiday is the bestselling author of Trust Me, I’m Lying, The Obstacle Is The Way, Ego Is The Enemy, and other books about marketing, culture, and the human condition. His work has been translated into thirty languages and has appeared everywhere from the Columbia Journalism Review to Fast Company. His company, Brass Check, has advised companies such as Google, TASER, and Complex, as well as Grammy Award winning musicians and some of the biggest authors in the world. He lives in Austin, Texas.