Or be at 80%, 100% of the time.

The David Goggins mindset has its place – when the chips are down or you need to dig in. But it’s not realistic to live in a constant state of stress.

There will be periods where you need, or want, to give your all. That might be for an hour, or sustained for much longer. Sometimes it’s externally driven, other times you may have put yourself in that position to get personal growth. But at some point you do need space to recover. To reflect, and go again.

It’s important to challenge the idea that unless you finish every day pretty much exhausted, that you haven’t done your best – that’s a relatively unsustainable mindset (or at least one not aligned to peak performance or health longevity). So you may choose to give 80% to something day in, day out. That’s still a big effort if done well, just at a sustainable level.

Realistically, you’ll flux between the two. And either way, both are productive – the key is to apply Actfullness to your life i.e. deliberate thinking and purposeful action towards meaningful outcomes.