I spent 6 months doing the absolute bare minimum and 6 months actively chasing a goal. Here's what I learned:
While doing the bare minimum:
I was watching a lot of TV series.
I was eating a lot of junk food.
I was doom scrolling like crazy.
Classic consumer behavior.
But as a consequence, I was getting fat, lazy, and stupid. Now in the moment, it felt pretty good. And it was pretty easy.
But on the other hand, when I was actively pursuing a goal, when I was living an objective oriented life:
I was running. I was reading. I was cooking.
And because I was documenting the process, I was also writing, shooting, and editing, while doing my 9:5 job.
This felt difficult, but the days felt fuller, and I slept like a baby. So if the success metric is satisfaction and fulfilment, I found the answer to lie in doing more.