Give Your Best 75%: A Humanist Approach to Sustainable Success

In a recent conversation with a friend, I said something offhand that stuck with me: “I got about 75% of my to-do list done today—and I feel really good about that.”

That simple statement captures a core lesson I’ve learned as a humanistic business leader: you don’t have to do everything to be successful. In fact, trying to do everything is a recipe for burnout—not just for you, but for your relationships, your community, and even your business. Giving your best 75% might just be the most productive and sustainable thing you can do.

The Myth of 100%

There’s a lot of pressure in the business world to give “110%” all the time. Hustle harder. Sleep less. Achieve more. But human beings aren’t machines—and when we treat ourselves like we are, we break down. Constant overdrive isn’t sustainable. And it’s not actually necessary.

Some of the most important things I do in a day—like making a healthy meal, having quality time with my family, playing a video game, or chatting with a friend—don’t show up on a productivity chart. But they make me a better business leader, a better thinker, and a more grounded human. They help me show up better for the 75% of work I do choose to tackle.

Working Sustainably Is Working Strategically

I work for myself. I have no boss threatening to fire me if I don’t check off every item on my list. That freedom has taught me something powerful: Many tasks simply don’t need to be done. Ever. Some can wait. Others vanish entirely when left alone for a few days.

The real trick is learning to discern. Every morning, I look at my task list—not to ask what I can cram into the day, but to decide what I’m not going to do. I pare it down to what’s truly meaningful and manageable, based on the time, energy, and obligations I have that day. That includes making time for myself and others, not just my business.

This is how I avoid burnout. It’s also how I do higher-quality work.

Systems That Support, Not Control

I’m still organized. I keep lists, use task trackers, and make sure nothing truly important gets forgotten. But those systems exist to support my work—not to guilt me into overworking.

I’ve also learned to say no. To projects. To requests. To distractions that don’t align with my priorities or capacity. Saying no isn’t failure. It’s focus. It’s choosing what matters most.

The 75% Rule

So here’s my philosophy: Give your best 75%. Be intentional. Be kind to yourself. Prioritize rest, relationships, and joy alongside business goals. You may leave some money on the table. But you’ll gain something far more valuable—your health, your clarity, your creativity, your sustainability.

And you’ll be better not just for your business, but for your family, your community (I volunteer at the zoo!), and the world around you.

You don’t have to do it all. Just do what matters—and do it well. You can thrive if you don't burn out. Save 25%  - for joy. 

#WorkLifeBalance #HumanisticLeadership #SustainableSuccess #AvoidBurnout #TimeManagement #DoLessBetter #HumanismInBusiness #MindfulProductivity

Secular Mindfulness

Is mindfulness meditation? Or something else?

Mindfulness is the art of paying attention. To be mindful is to be consciously aware of something. Mindfulness is the state being consciously aware. Recently, mindful meditation has been promoted, which is a practice designed to help you to be more mindful in your everyday life.

The problem with meditation is that it is often packaged with woo. Woo, for those of you who don’t know, is a derogatory term used to describe non-science teachings and practices. Most of what passes for self help these days is woo.

But is mindfulness and/or meditation woo?  Well, not necessarily. There are secular non-woo versions of both. Secular meaning non-supernatural and non-woo meaning some has actual science to back it up.

But to get back to the central question, is mindfulness meditation? Or something else?  Yes and no. Mindfulness is a state of being consciously aware. Meditation is a practice which depending on the method can help you become more consciously aware, at least in the moment.

So why do meditation? Well, it turns out that it is surprisingly hard to be mindful. Focusing your attention and awareness for any length of time is something most brains fight. Our minds seem to have a mind of their own. They think what they want to think and it might not be want you want to be thinking about.

Just try and sit still and be aware of nothing but your breath. I dare you!

Most people can’t just be aware of their breath and nothing else without practice.  This is why meditation is called a practice. Meditation, in its most secular non-woo form, is the practice of concentrating.

Assuming you have no medical reasons why concentration would be hard, most people can train their brains, through practice, to concentrate more effectively and presumably on your command. That’s all secular mindfulness or meditation is.

To learn more about how this works and the science behind it, consider taking Rick Heller’s excellent program, Humanist Meditation: Answers for Skeptics at Humanist Learning Systems.

Coping in a Highly Competitive Society

I come at this from a Humanist perspective.  The key to coping well in a highly competitive society is to really have a good grounding in your goals in life. That is what provides you with meaning and purpose and helps you not be pulled off course by the rat race.

We do live in a highly competitive society. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Competition spurs us to do better and to be better and to achieve more.  That’s all positive.

The problem is I’m not sure people really know what they are competing for.  Neuromarketers have become expert on how to trigger “scarcity” and peer pressure through likes and clicks and feedback and limited time offers. And this works because – we are competitive – innately so.

Clearly, peer pressure and the desire to one up and be seen as better than our peers is a built in response we humans have. We need to fit in with our tribe for security reasons and so we can get caught up in competing to just to fit in. But that doesn't lead to happiness.

What people need to do is find balance. Balance between the need and desire to compete and the need to be happy for the sake of being happy.   This isn’t an either or thing, it’s a balancing thing.

And to balance – we have to think. What is it that we really want?  Do I even want what I am competing for?  Perhaps I should let this go and compete for something else.

It’s an amazing feeling to consciously let go of the need to compete for things that – really don’t matter to you.  Letting go of the rat race, frees up your energy and resources to compete in the things that do matter to you.  And because your energy and time isn’t scattered on things you don’t care about – and you are able to focus on the things you do – because that’s what you chose for yourself, you end up being happier and less stressed.  At least I do.

The key to doing any of this successfully though, is learning how to think more effectively and learning how to calm your brain enough so that the fight/flight response that gets triggered when we are in competition, is deactivated so that we only compete on things that matter to us personally. This is why there is such a growth in the mindfulness/meditation realm.

Don’t be Mindless

The value of mindfulness in business and in life.

The Harvard Business Review has been putting out a lot of great stuff in the realm of Humanistic Business Management. Recently, they did an interview with Ellen Langer about her work on the benefits of mindfulness. Ellen Langer is a professor of psychology at Harvard University btw.

Here is a link to the video: http://hbr.org/video/3117535032001/enliven-your-work-with-mindfulness (we are unable to embed it).

The big take away from Ms. Langer’s research is “that by paying attention to what’s going on around us, instead of operating on auto-pilot, we can reduce stress, unlock creativity, and boost performance.”

According to Langer, “Mindfulness is the process of actively noticing new things. When you do that, it puts you in the present.” The benefits of being more present include better performance, better innovation, and it makes people more charismatic to those around them  (and why not, you are actually awake and not on auto-pilot – you stand out). 

Mindfulness also helps you be less judgmental about others, because instead of mindlessly pigeonholing them, you actually take the time to consider why they are behaving the way they do.  Sounds a lot like the active practice of freethought and compassion to me.

What’s really interesting about the article that goes with the interview: http://hbr.org/2014/03/mindfulness-in-the-age-of-complexity/ar/1?referral=00060 is how this mindfulness approach impacts business management. The techniques she describes as the practice of mindfulness sound a lot like critical thinking, combined with active compassion to me.

If you are interested in the work of the Langer Mindfulness Institute – here is their website: http://langermindfulnessinstitute.com/

Mindfulness in everyday life

3 ways to be mindful in everyday life.

Humanism is not an abstract philosophy. It has real world and immediate implications for how you choose to live your life.  In order to be a truly moral person it is important to think.  The question is what should you think about and how can you think in a way that improves your life instead of causing you to get into a endless thought rut.

Here are 3 ways you can think about your everyday actions that will help you to be more mindful and to gain greater enjoyment from life at the same time.

1) Think about what is moral. Being mindful isn’t helpful if it is selfish. Think about what you are doing as a question of morality and you will automatically be more mindful. You will also feel better about who you are as an individual.

2) Start with small things. Like – do you return your shopping cart and why at the supermarket? Are you smiling and making eye contact with people at the supermarket?  Choose one thing at a time to work on that you do multiple times a week and you will find it not only effects your mood immediately, it will also become habit forming because you get to practice it often. These habits will also transfer over to other areas of your life as you experience the benefits of a more mindful approach.

3) Remind yourself to be compassionate with the jerks in your life. When we are dealing with a negative situation, our focus is often on how to defend ourselves. When you find yourself getting stressed and defensive, remind yourself to think compassionately about the person who isn’t behaving properly. Don’t insist they behave better, they aren’t capable of it and insisting that they do is part of why the conflict is persisting. Just compassionately accept that for whatever reason, they are incapable in this moment of behaving better. Forgive them and move on. This will help you feel better immediately and help you navigate these difficult situations in a way that you will feel good about instead of beating yourself up afterwards for what you could have or should have said. Feelings of compassionate eliminate that need.

If you want to learn more, consider my Humanist life skills course – Living Made Simpler. (http://humanisthappiness.com)