The Danger of Always Doing More When Enough Is Actually Enough

This entry is the first in a two-part series. Part two will be published September 15.

I’ve been guilty of it more times than I can count. The nagging voice that says you could be doing more. More work, more hustle, more output, more proving yourself. It sneaks into my spiritual life, my business life, even my personal habits. And for a long time, I treated that voice like a tyrannical coach urging me forward. But I’ve come to realize something: always doing more isn’t discipline; rather, it’s a trap.

We live in a culture that glorifies being busy from dawn until well into the evening, yet simultaneously promotes the benefits of sleep, the consequences of sleep deprivation, and the importance of downtime. Suppose you’re not juggling nine projects at once, side hustling, reading twelve newsletters, listening to podcast after podcast, and somehow squeezing in a seven-mile run and an hour at the gym pre-dawn. In that case, according to some, you may be “falling behind” or “not getting ahead.” Which begs the question, who am I racing? It’s a competitive illusion. More doesn’t always mean better – it often just means exhausted.

I’ve seen this first-hand in my own career. There have been stretches when I said yes to everything: extra assignments, side gigs, volunteering, late nights chasing perfection. On the surface, it appeared to be productivity. Underneath, it was stress, burnout, and a creeping sense that I wasn’t actually happy. The irony is, the more I tried to do, the less satisfied I felt.

Why? Because “more” has no finish line. You don’t get to the end of the to-do list, exhale with relief, and declare victory. As soon as one thing is done, the mind rushes in with the next demand because the list never ends. It’s like being on a treadmill that speeds up every time you think you’re about to catch your breath. 

The real danger of always doing more is that it blinds you to what’s already enough. I’ve had moments where I realized the work I had done was good, the effort was sufficient, and the box was checked. But because I was conditioned to keep pushing, I robbed myself of the satisfaction of calling it finished. Instead of “done,” I defaulted to “what else?”

The shift for me has been learning to recognize “enough” as its own kind of success. Enough doesn’t mean lazy, or settling, or giving up. It means you’ve given what the moment requires, and you trust that it’s sufficient. For example, a solid, clean, factual story filed on deadline is enough. It doesn’t need another two hours of tinkering, another three quotes, or perfection to prove its worth. The work stands on its own.

In fact, the discipline of stopping is often more complicated than the discipline of grinding. Anyone can fill time with “more.” But to pause and look at what you’ve done and say, “this is enough,” that takes clarity and confidence. It means you’ve silenced the noise of comparison and the addiction to busyness long enough to stand on steady ground.

Most of us don’t need to add more. We need to subtract. We need to cut away the overthinking, the endless tweaking, the compulsion to prove ourselves by sheer volume while expecting perfection. What remains after the subtraction is focus. And focus, more than hustle, is what gets meaningful work done.

There’s freedom in embracing enough. It frees your energy to move on to the next task without dragging perfectionism behind you. It frees your mind to enjoy the present instead of being drawn to the next demand. And most importantly, it frees your spirit from the shame of feeling like you’re always behind.

So here’s my reminder to myself, and maybe to you: More isn’t always better. Sometimes, more is the very thing that steals joy from what you’ve already achieved. Enough isn’t a consolation prize; it’s the goal.

And today, in a world that constantly pushes us to do more, choosing “enough” might just be the boldest move of all.