I was listening to 2026 MORNING MOTIVATION - Start Your Day Right, Listen Every Day! | Matthew McConaughey Motivation and there was a line in here that struck me:

"So many people are obsessed with how to live longer instead of how to live better."
— Matthew McConaughey

As someone who spent many years of his life obsessed with his productivity and trying to do more, it really hit home because I've hit a point where it's not enough to simply do more.

If we were to try and analyze the path of any ambitious or productive person, it starts with the first step of simply taking action. As the Nike slogan goes, "Just do it." Because without any action, there is no output that interacts with the rest of the world.

Once you start that journey of taking action, naturally the desire is for one to repeat it and so we then progress into the "do more" track of things. It is at this stage that most of us discover the world of productivity and find ourselves trying to optimize our systems in an effort to complete the most things possible within the given time.

However, anyone who has pursued this path long enough reaches an obstacle that's not talked about as often, and that is when doing more is not only not enough, but it becomes a hindrance. In a way, the success of being able to do so much now has created so much noise that it creates a chaotic mess that many either completely burn out from or are trapped in.

So, we arrive at the next but challenging stage of "do better." The problem though is we are then faced with the question: "What exactly it is that we want to do better in?" That's the ultimate question which petrifies many into a state of inaction.

To progress to the next stage, it requires us to face some hard truths about ourselves in understanding what matters most to us. And when I say "what matters most to us," it's not about paying bills or whatever obligations society tells us we're supposed to do, but to really dive deep into the things which bring us fulfillment. We're not talking about simple joys and pleasures of life, but the thing that sets your brain on fire or kindles the passion to jump headfirst into solving problems others would find tedious.

The problem however is that this journey is one that many will never dare embark on because no one can answer it but themselves. The only person who knows that answer is the version of themselves that completes the journey some time in the future. As a result, when faced with the seemingly productive stage of "do more," it is understandable that many simply return to the chaos and never grow beyond it.

It's not about building something or creating habits, but instead about being willing to dive deep into yourself and endure the wilderness necessary to discovering the best version of you.