Intense vs Sustainable Mode

My color palette used to be black and white.
My decisions—binary. No gray. No in-between.

The younger me thrived at the extremes.
It was easy to do hard things.
Water fasts for 14 days? Done.
Keto for months? No problem.
Back-to-back intense projects? Bring it on.

But intensity is expensive.

Over time, I learnt it from the brain itself—
The focused, intense mode is not the default.
It’s short-lived by design.
Living in high gear all the time wears down the system—and everyone around it.

So I evolved a simple rule:
If a project is under 4 weeks, intense mode is fine.
Anything longer? It goes into sustainable mode.

Sustainable mode is kind to the body. Gentle on the mind.
It honors the truth that life isn’t paused just because a project is on.
Life is the platform. Work runs within it.

If the Goggins in you wants to run 90 minutes a day—start with 10.
Progressively overload.
Strengthen the habit.
Don’t crash in the name of progress.

Since 2025, I’ve added a new ritual:
I pick projects—and assign a mode.
Long-term ones get ease. No more heroic runs.
No more fasting extremes.
No more sleeping less or pushing more.

So here’s a question for you:
Which of your projects are in intense mode?
Which ones are in sustainable mode?

If you don’t know yet, start by choosing the mode.
Because how you approach a project matters just as much as the project itself.