STOP Keeping Your Options Open!

Jake Luehrs
August 15, 2026

ONE QUESTION

What challenge are you cursing in life today that is actually building the very person you’ve prayed about becoming?

ONE THING TO PONDER

Understanding ourselves is a far better approach to growth than trying to ‘fix’ ourselves.

ONE PERSPECTIVE

About 8 months ago, I wrote something along the lines of “Overwhelm is a Gift.”

Last week, I felt it…not the gift part…the ‘overwhelm’ part.

The kind that you can feel in your chest, not just periodically, but a constant low hum of tightness and uneasiness.

Where every time you turn the corner, something else wasn’t finished and was all of a sudden urgent.

Here is the part that bothered me the most….It was also one of the most ‘productive’ weeks I’ve had in awhile.

Not productive in the sense that I moved big things forward, I just got a lot of disconnected things checked off.

‘Productive’ Can Mean Two Very Different Things:

1. Meaningful progress toward what you actually intend to build.
2. A lot of boxes checked, and almost no forward movement at all.

I was living #2.

Busy enough to feel exhausted.

Not focused enough to feel proud or experience progress.

Overwhelm doesn't come from the workload. It comes from the complexity of everything we're juggling at once.

I’m convinced there are far more dreams sabotaged by distraction than there are by incompetence or lack of ability.

We love keeping our options open. It feels responsible. Smart, even.

But let's call it what it actually is….dopamine-seeking self sabotage while wearing a mask of productivity.

Half-committing to five things isn't ambition. It’s not impressive. It’s a self-worth play. It’s the avoidance of addressing a lack of clarity.

It's a quiet, acceptable way to make sure we never fully go all-in on any single one of them.

We also never experience ‘failure’ because we’re getting the dopamine hits from distraction and chaos.

And ultimately, we never get to experience what we're actually capable of.

I believe, not because I read it somewhere or because AI told me, but because I’ve experienced it and stress tested it…

Our minds and bodies are built for hard work and stress. Where it starts to break down is when things become overly complex and we burnout.

The problem isn’t the work, it’s the overwhelm of complexity.

So if you're burning out right now, I want to gently push back on the story you're likely telling yourself.

It's not the work breaking you. It's the complexity you've allowed in.

We’re built to do hard things. We’re not built to do everything.

The longer we keep all our options open, the longer we delay committing to something meaningful.

The real solution for most of us isn’t working less, it’s simplifying more.

Close some doors. Not out of fear…out of respect for the door you actually want to walk through.

Choose. That's the whole practice.

Onward and upward!

LEAD & LEARN : WEEKLY PICK

PODCAST

You’re Not Depressed, You’re Living The Wrong Life - Jimmy Carr

Modern Wisdom

This conversation is a reminder that feeling stuck may be less about fixing yourself and more about getting honest about the life you're living. Jimmy Carr explores how easily we can build around expectations and achievement while drifting from what actually matters. Sometimes the most powerful move is having the courage to question the path you're on and choose one that feels more aligned.