23. Find that balance

We are often told to do this and you’ll succeed in that. Focus 100% of your effort in this and you’ll achieve that. If there’s anything I’ve learned about life, is that it’s never that simple.

Doing too much of something will usually cause you harm in another thing. Cases in point:

• Being lazy leads you to achieve nothing. But working too hard causes burn out.
• Being a jerk gets everyone to hate you. Being too nice subjects you to being taken advantage of.
• Not learning makes you stagnant. But if all you do is learn, you will never act.

And the list goes on. The world is never a black and white. I wish it’s as easy as study hard and get an A. But it’s not. Conquering life is not the same with conquering a test paper. There’s no one right formula to follow. Life is not a straight line. It’s squiggly, full of zigs and zags.

The best spot is never at the edge but somewhere in the middle. Find that sweet spot.