It’s been too long since I’ve sent out a newsletter. But I’m back. Hope all is well in your world.

Let’s talk “optimization.”

Much of “optimization” is trying to find an easy workaround for things that are difficult.

This seems rational. Why wouldn’t you want an easy workaround?

But in reality, the optimizoooors (people who try to optimize 24/7) end up:

• Not making any real progress
• Never sticking with anything beyond a few weeks or months
• Talking a load of shit on Twitter (also calling myself out here)
• Deluding themselves into thinking that they’re smarter than other people who are actually getting results. And that eventually when they find the right approach that they’ll get insane results faster than everyone else (this never happens).

Here’s what I’ve learned as a recovering optimizoooor.

There are two types of optimization

If you’re starting something new, there’s nothing wrong with trying to find the optimal approach.

New to lifting weights? Finding a proven workout routine like Stronglifts or Starting Strength and paying attention to your form is an optimal way to progress. Especially compared to going to the gym and randomly lifting shit (likely injuring yourself in the process).

Want to start a business but have no idea where to start? Following a model or framework is more optimal than unguided trial and error.

This is what we’ll call Obvious Optimization. Even though it’s not always obvious what we should do in the beginning, it is obvious that there should be some sort of optimal way to start.

The problem occurs when we venture beyond Obvious Optimization into Tail End Optimization.

Tail End Optimization is exactly what it sounds like. It’s what you should focus on at the tail end of your pursuit. When you’ve been doing something for a long time and you’re trying to gain an edge.

It’s when you’ve been lifting weights for 5+ years and you’re looking to shore up your routine to get the .5% extra gains.

Or you’ve been in business for 10 years and you understand the power of small tactics and tweaks in your model.

Premature Tail-End Optimization will kill progress

What optimizoooors do is prematurely attempt to insert tail-end optimization into their pursuit.

They’ll lift weights for a few weeks, and then try to find a “better” workout routine.

They’ll read some article on why you shouldn’t bench press, and they’ll search for the optimal alternative.

Any momentum they’ve built will disappear. They’ll move around in circles trying to “optimize.” And they’ll eventually give up.

Trying to optimize the shit out of everything too early will kill progress because it takes the focus off the two things that actually produce results: consistent effort and feedback.

Consider this scenario…

John (Optimizooooor) and Sally (Not an Optimizoooor) both want to run a marathon.

John spends an entire two weeks researching the best training plan, shoes, form, etc.

Sally finds a 12-week training plan on the internet within 30 minutes. She figures it will be good enough. She puts on her old running shoes that she hasn’t worn in years and gets out the door to go for an easy run as suggested by her training plan.

After buying the right shoes, getting his Garmin Fenix 6, and finally finding the optimal training plan… John gets out the door two weeks later to go for his first run.

He’s disappointed with his first run. Afterwards, he does “research” on how he can run faster and keep his heart rate lower. He thinks there must be a more optimal way to go about this.

Sally keeps running according to her plan. Doesn’t think much of it.

Who wins? It’s Sally every time.

You can apply this to any pursuit.

Business. Fitness. Relationships. ANYTHING.

Consistent effort combined with natural feedback will take you further than trying to optimize everything early on.

Premature optimization is avoidance of hard work

99% of the time, the desire to “optimize” is just you avoiding what you know you should be doing.

If you’ve ever downloaded a new task manager or fancy note-taking app, and you’ve had that feeling of “this will change everything” then you know EXACTLY what I’m talking about.

“Bidirectional note links?! OMG I’ll finally be able to finish my book.”

Mate. Humans have been writing books long before we had bidirectional links in note-taking apps.

This optimization—trying to find the perfect app, process, tactic—is simply avoiding the hard work that needs to be done.

Writing a book is hard whether you have bidirectional note links or not.

Training for a marathon is hard even if you have the perfect training plan.

And while you might be able to make it easier with some Obvious Optimization like I mentioned earlier, you will not make it easy.

Optimization can (and often does) make you weak

Optimizooors like perfect conditions to exist.

They want to do their “deep work” in their cool note-taking app that has a “focus mode” while using their Bose noise-cancelling headphones in their hipster cafe downtown that charges $6 for a filter coffee.

At night, they slip on their Oura ring and jump into their perfectly cooled bed (smart mattress) with blackout curtains and a white noise machine.

But as soon as these conditions change, everything changes.

Headphones aren’t charged? Damn it’s noisy in that cafe. Good luck getting your deep work in.

(For the record, I’m writing this newsletter in a noisy cafe with loud music playing. I also haven’t worn my Oura ring in 3 weeks. I do use a fancy note-taking app though).

There’s nothing wrong with setting ideal conditions. It’s almost certainly better to work without distraction than with it.

But trying to optimize every inch of your work and personal life makes you less adaptable.

You should be able to push forward with your business when you’re tired and distracted.

You should be able to go to the gym and get a good lifting session in even if your phone has died and you can’t access your workout app (or if your headphones aren’t charged and you can’t listen to your gym playlist).

Make obvious optimizations, but do not rely on them.

How to go from optimizooor to achiever

I’m mostly writing this newsletter to myself, because I’m a recovering optimizooor.

Here are a few principles and tactics that have helped me (and are still helping me) make this transition.

1: Doing more is the best way to get better

I recently took up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

My impulse after one week was to go on the internet and figure out the best way to progress and learn.

The answer that I kept getting? MORE MAT TIME.

Do more. Train more. Practice and put in the time.

When you feel the impulse to optimize—especially early on in a pursuit—remember this.

The most optimal way to progress is to put in more time until you hit an obvious bottleneck that you need to work around. Or until you find an obvious way to speed up your progress.

2: Ask - is this an optimization or a distraction?

Do you really need that new note-taking app, or are you just in a slump with the project you’re working on?

Do you really need to change your workout routine, or are you just bored?

Do you really need to change your entire business model, or have you just not talked to enough customers to get feedback on your current approach?

3: Recognize that the majority of optimization happens naturally

Going back to the Jiu-Jitsu example.

More training = more optimization.

It’s pattern recognition. The more time I spend on the mat, the more situations I’ll find myself in. The more I’ll fail. The more I’ll learn.

In business, the more sales calls you have the more sales you’ll make. And if you don’t make any sales, then you’ll quickly figure out exactly why (in a way that you couldn’t have figured out if you were just theorizing or “thinking” about it and trying to optimize).

This can be comforting, because it means you can embrace the fact that as long as you stick with what you’re doing, you will become more optimal over time. Much more so than the person who’s trying to optimize everything from day one but doesn’t really put in the effort.

4: Encourage people to call you out on your BS

It’s good to have friends and peers that will call you out when you fall into the optimization trap.

People who will say, “You just need to get it done.”

Or, “Just ship your product already.”

People who will remind you that all these tweaks and tactics don’t really matter, and that you still haven’t done what you said you were going to do.

Having this accountability is important, especially if you’re the type of person that can easily convince (delude) yourself that you need to do more optimization.

5: Extend your time horizon

I think a lot of desire to optimize comes from impatience and associated disappointment.

We are disappointed in our slow it’s taking to write our book, so the new note-taking app is attractive because we think maybe it will speed things up.

We are disappointed in the lack of gains from working out, so we look for a magic supplement or better workout routine.

But if we simply extend our time horizon and recognize that these pursuits take time to get results, then we can focus on the grind and stay on the path. Results will come.

That’s it for this week. Hope you got value out of it.

-Sam