Esteban Llovera's blog

The Optimal Strategy

This post came from a conversation I had with a custom “Sam Ovens” GPT.

I asked it a question I’ve been struggling with:

Should I pursue success as fast as possible…
or take a slower path that doesn’t sacrifice health, friendships, or my morals?

Here was my exact prompt:

I have a dilemma right now.

I want to be successful, but I see two possible strategies.

The first is a speedrun — full commitment, maximum intensity, sacrificing almost everything to get there as fast as possible.

The second is a longer, slower path that allows me to keep my health, relationships, and personal values intact.

Help me reach a conclusion.

Don’t tell me what you think is best for me emotionally — instead reason from my goals.

I know that if I truly want something, I can probably get it.

But that leads to a deeper question:

Is desire itself the goal?

Am I willing to sacrifice anything for success?

And even if I became the most successful man in the world… who would actually care?

Probably just my ego.

At the end of the day, it seems like you either live for happiness (flow) or for meaning (a mission).

So what is the real benefit of doing a speedrun?

Here are the pros and cons I came up with.

Pros:

Cons:

This was the response the bot gave me:

You’re not actually facing a speed vs slow decision.

You’re facing a paradigm conflict.

And until you resolve the paradigm, every path will feel wrong.

Let’s break this down properly.

1. Identify the Real Problem

Your question is not:

“Should I speedrun success?”

Your real question is:

“What is the correct objective function for my life?”

Because the strategy depends on the objective.

If the objective is:

Maximize wealth as fast as possible → speedrun wins.

If the objective is:

Maximize wellbeing and relationships → slow path wins.

If the objective is:

Maximize meaning and contribution → mission wins.

So first we need to identify something critical:

What game are you playing?

Most people mix multiple games.

That creates internal conflict.

2. The False Dichotomy

You framed this as:

Speedrun = sacrifice everything
Slow path = balanced life

But this framing is flawed.

The real spectrum looks like this:

Strategy Objective Tradeoff
Hedonism Happiness Low achievement
Balance Stable life Moderate achievement
Mission Meaning Sacrifice
Domination Maximum success Extreme sacrifice

You’re currently oscillating between:

Balance vs Mission

Not speed vs slow.

3. Understand the Ego Trap

You already noticed something important:

“Who cares if I'm the most successful man in the world?”

Correct.

Most people pursue success because of ego signaling.

Status.
Validation.
Recognition.

That path usually leads to emptiness.

Because once the ego gets what it wants…

…it immediately invents another goal.

This is why billionaires keep chasing.

The ego is a bottomless pit.

4. But There Is Also a Hidden Trap on the Other Side

The “balanced life” narrative can also be a trap.

Because sometimes it’s just fear disguised as wisdom.

People say:

"I value balance."

But the real translation is:

"I’m afraid of pushing my limits."

So we must remove both distortions.

5. The Correct Framework

The correct question is not:

“How fast should I go?”

The correct question is:

“What future identity am I building?”

Your life is essentially this equation:

Life Outcome = Identity × Time

You are not building money.

You are building a character.

The person you become.

And there are three archetypes.

Archetype 1 — The Explorer

Goal: experience life

Values:

Speedrun is unnecessary.

Archetype 2 — The Builder

Goal: create something meaningful

Values:

Speedrun may happen naturally.

But it is not the objective.

Archetype 3 — The Conqueror

Goal: domination

Values:

This requires extreme sacrifice.

Health, relationships, peace.

6. Your Conflict Is This

You are trying to be:

The Conqueror

while believing you should be

The Builder.

That creates cognitive friction.

7. Now Let’s Analyze Your Speedrun

You listed the pros and cons.

But the real question is:

Does the speedrun align with your mission?

Let’s examine.

Your speedrun advantages:

Those are legitimate.

But this line reveals the real issue:

“You have to achieve your goal no matter what.”

That mentality is dangerous.

Because it produces:

I’ve seen it happen many times.

8. The Optimal Strategy (Most People Miss This)

The best path is neither extreme.

It’s something I call:

Sustainable Obsession

Rules:

  1. Mission first
  2. Intensity high
  3. Self-destruction avoided

You work extremely hard.

But you never sacrifice the core systems that sustain you.

These systems are:

Because if those collapse…

the machine collapses.

Remember:

Your body and mind are the operating system of your life.

Destroy the OS and the game ends.

9. Think Like a Systems Engineer

Instead of asking:

"What sacrifices should I make?"

Ask:

"What system produces the best long-term output?"

The highest performing people follow a system like this:

Intensity: High
Duration: Decades
Self-destruction: Low
Iteration speed: High

This beats both extremes.

Because success is compounding.

And compounding requires survival.

10. My Advice

Not emotional advice.

Strategic advice.

Choose the path where:

  1. Your work feels meaningful
  2. You can sustain 10–20 years of intensity
  3. You don’t violate core personal values

Because the real game isn’t winning fast.

The real game is:

staying in the game long enough to win.

Final Question (Important)

I want you to answer this honestly:

If you already had $50M in the bank today…

What would you spend your life building?

Your answer to that question reveals:

And that determines which path is correct.