Most of us are fixated on destinations - the next promotion, race, milestone, or achievement. We tell ourselves that satisfaction lives somewhere ahead of us.

But destinations are fleeting. We reach them, celebrate briefly, and then begin chasing the next one.

The people who seem to get the most out of life learn a different lesson - they fall in love with the process. They enjoy the workout, not just the result. They enjoy reading, not just finishing books. They enjoy the daily work, not just the reward.

This week's newsletter is a reminder that while goals matter, the quality of our lives is ultimately determined by how we spend the ordinary days between them.

Learn to love the walk, and you'll go farther than you ever imagined.

For years now, I have realized that over time, I have become obsessed with optimization.

I optimize my workouts. My morning routine. My reading. My calendar. My nutrition. My sleep. My supplements. My productivity system.

And to be fair, the reason that I have fallen into this groove is that it has largely worked for me. That optimization spawned routines, those routines spawned execution. And as a result, I became healthier, more disciplined, more productive, more intentional.

Over the last few years, as I have spent time trying to sit back and reflect on everything I have and continue to be working towards, I have tried to challenge my approaches - optimization being one of them.

I continue to realize that I often err in spending so much time trying to improve my life that I am not always experiencing it.

There's a subtle trap hidden inside personal development. The belief that happiness, fulfillment, or peace lives just beyond the next improvement. Five more pounds lost. One more promotion. A faster race. A better routine.

The problem is that optimization has no finish line, and that’s on purpose. So long as you're alive, there will always be something to improve, which is exciting!

There is always another book to read. Another habit to build. Another system to refine.

This is one of the things that fascinates me about the stoics and their forward thinking. The Stoics simply recognized that the purpose of self-improvement was to better experience life, not postpone it.

Lately, I've found myself thinking less about maximizing every moment and more about being present for the moment I'm already in. I aim to have a goal to work towards professionally and personally - no longer to complete the goal, but to lean into the state that I find myself in when I am working TOWARDS something, and leveraging that mindset to live more meaningful days.

And in the mix of those aspirations, I am working on stepping back and slowing down, sometimes prioritizing things that don’t align with those short and long-term ambitions.

Some days, it’s holding Levi while he falls back to sleep during the morning when I would normally be lacing up the running shoes.

Others it’s staying up a little later and sacrificing some sleep to spend time with Allison in the evenings when we actually have a moment together.

I am getting better about picking up a book without a goal of pages to finish, or when I don’t have as long of a block as I would like.

I just think this is an important thing to share and a realization to lean into. Improvement matters, growth matters, discipline matters.

But sometimes the next level isn't becoming more optimized, it's becoming more present. And you are beginning to see this idea trickle into more and more of the hard-nosed personal dev content, too. Go listen to 2015 Gary Vee, then listen to him this year. Alex Hormozi. You name it.

This might just actually be the hardest skill of them all.

I will continue to beat this drum in this newsletter at least once a quarter until it resonates, because on the surface, the idea still often seems easy to disregard.

When people decide they want to get healthier, they (ME) usually look for something intense.

Whether that is a new workout program, a new extreme diet regimen, or a new race plan to train towards. These are all important and effective steps to take, but still to this day, what most rarely consider is walking - which is a mistake.

Walking may be the highest return-on-investment exercise available.

It improves cardiovascular health. Helps regulate blood sugar. Supports recovery. Reduces stress. Increases daily calorie expenditure. Improves mood and cognitive function. And unlike most fitness programs, it doesn't leave you exhausted or injured.

The best part? Almost everyone can do it.

I've spent years training for marathons, Hyrox races, triathlons, and ultramarathons. Yet one of the simplest habits I've added this year has been intentionally walking more.

None of these feel significant in the moment. But health is often built through accumulation, not intensity. Most people dramatically overestimate what they need to do to get healthier and underestimate what happens when they consistently do the basics.

If you're not currently getting 10,000 steps a day in, don’t worry about the perfect diet or training plan. Just get started moving more through the day, and layer on more once you have the basics down.

One of the questions I get asked most often is, "How do you find your next book?"

For years, my answer was some combination of recommendations from friends, podcasts, newsletters, and wandering through bookstores. While all of those still play a role, I've recently found a tool that makes the process dramatically easier.

The website What Should I Read Next is beautifully simple. You type in a book you loved, and it generates recommendations based on what other readers who enjoyed that book also read. Think of it as Spotify's recommendation engine, but for books.

Finished Red Rising and need your next sci-fi obsession? Enter it. Loved Atomic Habits and want another personal development book? Enter it. The recommendations aren't perfect, but they're surprisingly good and often surface books I wouldn't have found otherwise.

Once I discover a promising title, I take it over to Goodreads for a second layer of research.

Most people use Goodreads as a place to track books they've read, but I've found it's even more valuable as a discovery tool. Instead of focusing solely on the overall rating, I read a handful of both 5-star and 1-star reviews. The 5-star reviews tell me what readers loved, while the 1-star reviews reveal potential dealbreakers. Often, what one person hated is exactly what another reader is looking for.

I also like to browse the "Readers Also Enjoyed" section and scan the shelves of people who rated the book highly. One good book often leads to five more.

The biggest obstacle to reading isn't usually a lack of time; it's friction. Finishing a great book and then spending two weeks wondering what to read next creates enough friction to break momentum.

The best readers I know always have a next book waiting.

If you're looking to read more this year, spend 15 minutes with these two tools and build a list of future reads. Your next favorite book is probably closer than you think.