Lukewarm is the enemy of compounding. It keeps you comfortable, busy, and average. I've lived some of it; I'm actively killing the rest.

I've noticed a pattern in my life and in people around me: we're rarely failing because of clear "no's." We fail because of maybes. Half-commitments. Half-speed. Lukewarm. It feels reasonable. It looks polite. It pays just enough to keep you quiet. But it rots momentum.

Lukewarm says, "I'll get to it after emails." Lukewarm says, "Once the semester calms down." Lukewarm is a calendar packed with meetings and zero decisions. It is effort spread thin—so thin that nothing breaks through.

The fix isn't motivational noise. It's binary choices and visible stakes. Put a number on it. A date. Money. Call a friend. Make it expensive to quit. Choose the hill to die on—and then stop shopping for other hills.

I'm not preaching extremism. I'm saying define one non‑lukewarm zone in your life and build a moat around it. Gym. Thesis. Startup. Prayer. Choose. Then let the rest be intentionally average. The world rewards spikes, not smooth lines.

Decide one spike. Put a price on backing out. Review weekly: what did I brutally prioritize vs. politely entertain?