Are you stopping at 80%?
A few years back, I was in a yoga class.
Before that, my experience with yoga was primarily “gym yoga”. You know the kind - in a heated room to increase flexibility quickly, with a “core strength” section in the middle to incorporate situps with yoga poses, and filled with athletes looking to increase their flexibility and show off what their bodies can do. While there were benefits, to be sure, that kind of yoga wasn’t “traditional”.
This particular class, however, was different. My small neighborhood makeshift gym had brought in a guest yoga instructor to help us focus on our flexibility to support the strength work we did in our typical classes. We warmed up slowly as the space wasn’t heated (we were working out of a converted storage unit), and followed the gentle sequences without a fancy sound system or mirrors on the wall.
And the instructor said something to me that has stuck with me ever since.
She explained that we should only push our poses to about 80% of what we thought we could handle.
Not push until it hurt, maximizing the stretch in every move.
Not taking each pose to the limit to see how much we could do.
No, we should stop at 80%.
And by doing that, over time, we would have a stronger practice and achieve more.
Wait, what?
By doing less now, we would do more later?
Have you ever tried that?
It was an interesting proposition. And one that we somehow intuitively know when it’s pointed out, but rarely do by default.
We know that when our schedule is packed, when we’re consistently pushing ourselves to the limit, operating at the upper bounds of our capacity, we often find ourselves burnt out. That final little straw breaks us, pushing us over the edge. We get sloppy and make mistakes, we jump to conclusions, forget to see what’s really important, and get in our own way.
But when we’re operating well within our capacity, things open up. We find more creativity, more clarity, more effectiveness. We can take advantage of the opportunities that come our way, like the unexpected friend in town, the surprising moment, or the growth opportunity. We also are better equipped to handle the unexpected challenges that comes our way.
So how can we dial things down a bit, so that we can go farther by going a bit slower?
Here are three questions you can ask yourself to unlock your capacity:
If I could only do one thing towards a goal, what would it be?
It’s easy to get caught up in a goal or a dream of what could be. Considering what work is actually important, vs what “extra” we could do can be clarifying.
What one key metric must your team hit to really make a difference in your business? What are the subset of features truly required for a successful product release? What single experience do you want your kids to remember about the winter break?
What’s something I WANT to do, but isn’t as important as what I NEED to do?
Often, we recognize the power in saying NO to the things we don’t want to do, the things that clearly don’t serve us. But identifying and saying NO to the things we WANT to do, but aren’t important enough to say YES to can be harder.
Is there a project you’re enjoying but you know you should delegate it so that you can focus elsewhere? A social invitation that would be fun, but leave you super drained for an important engagement the next day? A holiday ritual that you enjoy, but know won’t leave you room to truly appreciate the time with your family?
What is my max capacity, and where can I make space to operate below it?
Identifying your target capacity, below your max, can be a powerful exercise to help us see where we’re taking ourselves too far.
Is your calendar 100% full of meetings, or are there breaks and buffers built in? Does your team have moments to breathe between big projects? Do you build rest days into your training plan?
It’s so easy to get swept up in “more more more”, especially as we try to cram as much as we can into the end of the year. Taking time to consider the most important thing, what we want to do that we should deprioritize, and what our actual capacity is can help us take a step back so that we can go farther by going a bit slower.
Where will you go slower this week?
Will you send me a message and let me know?
December 18, 2025
About the author:
Christina Von Stroh is a leadership coach who helps her clients become wildly successful by applying iterative software development practices to achieve their dreams. Want to work with Christina to help you iterate towards the person you’re becoming?
Book your free strategy session.
