When Less Is More: The Self-Care Sweet Spot

In Economics, there’s a principle known as The Law of Diminishing Returns. It teaches us that if you keep adding more of one input—like labor or fertilizer—while holding everything else constant, the benefit you gain from each additional input eventually decreases. At some point, adding more actually stops helping—and might even make things worse.

This means that more effort does not always equal more benefit.

This same concept applies beautifully to our personal energy and self-care.

We often fall into the belief that more effort equals more benefit. And so we add and add—more routines, more practices, more supplements, more journaling... all in the name of healing, growth, or improvement. But what happens when all of that “working on ourselves” begins to wear us out?

Here’s how this often shows up:

• Practicing 30 minutes of energy exercises a day genuinely leaves you feeling more grounded, restored, and vibrant.

• Then you add yoga, journaling, meal prepping, and five new supplements—and it starts to feel like a second job.

• Before long, the pressure to “keep up” with your wellness routine brings on anxiety, fatigue, and guilt.

Sound familiar?

The truth is, healing and expansion happen most gracefully in what I call the sweet spot—that space where the nourishment you give yourself is both sustainable and effective. Where the return matches the effort, and your system can actually receive the support.

It’s like watering a plant. The right amount of water supports growth and vitality. Too much, and the roots begin to drown.

So instead of chasing more, consider aiming for enough.

Ask yourself:

• What actually restores me?

• Have things truly improved since I added to my self-care routine?

• Would doing less actually feel better?

Sometimes, a short walk, a laugh with a friend, and a full night’s rest nourish the energy body far more than any checklist of rituals.

You don’t need to prove your worth through how hard you work on yourself. You are already worthy. And your energy system doesn’t need to be constantly “optimized”—sometimes, it just wants to rest.

So take a few days off if you need to. Do something you really love. Let yourself be.

Because sometimes, the most healing thing you can do… is simply be.