These days it feels like everyone is trying too hard. Trying too hard to optimise every hobby and every aspect of their life. Because in 2026, everything must be tracked and optimised. We must know the best and most optimal solution to everything.

Oh you like exercise? Well your run doesn’t count if you don’t log it on Strava. And of course, you must have the absolute best running shoes and gear.

Maybe you lift weights. Well of course you benching x kg is crap, because I bench x + 20 kg. Also, that particular exercise you’re doing is only 95.73% as effective as this other program. The optimal amount of reps is 17 + 3/4 and you need at least 3/5 cm of protein per hogshead of body mass. Go on social media and ask “What is the most optimal way to XYZ?”.

Or maybe you’re into something more relaxing. Like leaning back and playing video games? Well back in the day, I used to play a lot of World of Warcraft. Nobody really knew what they were doing, and it was a lot of fun, so I was excited when they wanted to re-release the original version. It’s still fun, but a lot of the fun was sucked out of it by sweaty minmaxxers who not only wanted to optimise the fun out of their own playtime, but also demanded that everyone else get on their level. This kind of sweaty culture is present in a lot of games nowadays sadly.

But maybe video games is not your thing. Maybe you want to read more. Maybe you’ve even made it your new year’s resolution. How many times do you see people on social media talk about how they want to read X amount of books this year. But why set a goal? If you enjoy reading, make it your goal to find more time for reading, instead of turning it into a chore, or some goal that must be reached. By setting a specific goal, you may fall into the trap of doing things that count towards your goal, such as continuing to read even when you’re too tired to get anything out of it, or refusing to DNF a book you don’t like.

And of course, we all know that just like your run didn’t count if you didn’t track it on Strava, your book didn’t count if you didn’t log it on Goodreads. And of course, you must post a photo on social media so all your friends can see that you are reading books (hell yeah status points!) Here we are again tracking, logging and optimising everything instead of just enjoying our hobbies.

This year, make it your new year’s resolution to read a book and don’t tell anyone.

Go for a run and don’t share it on Strava.

Go lift some weights and don’t post a gym selfie.

Go play some games and don’t think about the most optimal grind.

Track things if you want, but don’t focus too much on the numbers.

Reject being a try-hard, and just enjoy your life.