Optimize Rather Than Maximize

To maximize something is to really push it to its end. In our society it is often treated as a virtue, but I think we celebrate the hustlers a bit too much. You don’t get famous for being average; you get famous for breaking records such as eating gluttonously like a mukbang star, having an impeccable LinkedIn, or even sleeping with a 100 guys in a day.

Is Maximization Optimal?

I’m going to argue no, it’s not optimal with several examples.

You go to a buffet and try to only eat the expensive stuff. You may get the highest return if you are simply considering the cost of ingredients, but you may not have the most enjoyable meal. If you stuff yourself to discomfort, again you are “winning” but the hours of discomfort afterwards aren’t worth it. In fact, I know someone who felt so terrible they went to the ER after. That meal ended up costing way more.

You pay for Hulu with no ads and so you decide every minute of free time you will be glued to the screen. It sounds silly when it is $20, but there are plenty of other situations where people act this way.

You go to a fancy hotel in Paris and want to use all the amenities since you are paying so much. You get there right at checkin and have trouble leaving. As a result you don’t get to see much of Paris. Sure, you got plenty of spa treatments and food, but the opportunity cost was so high because you are in Paris! You should have gone to a fancy hotel in your town.

Our schedules are so packed that we have no time to be bored. Kids are driven from activity to activity and have no time to be a kid.

The theme here is there is more to life than squeezing everything out of one facet.

What Can You Maximize?

You can optimize your maximization though. For instance, rather than paying for Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV, and Peacock all the time, you could rotate through them each month. You end up paying 1/4 of the price.

Many people try to maximize their salary. That is pretty understandable, but even this has limits. If you have to work 100 hours a week, then you probably aren’t getting much else out of your life and plan to “live” later. Instead, I would suggest you attempt to maximize how much you make on an hourly basis within your constraints. Perhaps you say 50 hours is as much as you’d work. If you currently work 40 hours and $100k a year, but can get a 10% raise for working 50, you aren’t making more per hour. You are effectively getting $10k for 10 more hours per week which equates to $20 an hour.

Conclusion

Assess your life, are their areas where you are overdoing it? Are you seeking riches in crypto, but the risk doesn’t let you sleep well? Or perhaps you aren’t maximizing anything. Do you have a gym subscription you don’t use? Optimization means taking a look at the entire picture to see what you want, both now and in the future. You have limited time and resources, so use them wisely which also means knowing when to stop.