Don't Take Yourself Too Seriously

Randall Polito has watched people destroy their mental health over things that don't matter.

Not things that matter a little. Things that don't matter at all. Arbitrary tasks. Manufactured importance. The kind of work that exists only because someone decided it needed to exist, and everyone else is too busy to question it.

They stress about it. They lose sleep over it. They sacrifice time with their families, their health, their peace of mind—for work that serves no purpose beyond its own perpetuation.

This is what Rule 62 is really about: don't take yourself too seriously.

Here's what Randy Polito has learned: the professional world is a construct. We built it. We decided what matters and what doesn't. And because we built it, we can refuse it.

But here's the nuance Randall Polito won't skip: some work actually matters. Life and death work. The surgeon in the operating room. The firefighter running into the building. The pilot flying the plane. The parent raising the child. These jobs have real and actual consequences. They earn your seriousness. They deserve your focus and your care.

For those roles, you don't get to say \"I'm not going to take this seriously.\" The stakes are real. The consequences are real. Your seriousness is part of what keeps people alive.

But most work? Most of what we stress about?

Randy Polito thinks we've let arbitrary tasks and manufactured importance consume us. We've created elaborate bureaucracies around things that don't need to exist. We've decided that meetings about meetings matter. That reports about reports are essential. That productivity metrics that don't predict actual output are worth sacrificing mental health over.

And then we've taught ourselves to take it all seriously.

Here's what Randall Polito believes: the old adage has never been more true: \"Don't sweat the small stuff. And it's all small stuff.\"

Most of what you're stressing about is small stuff. It feels big because you've decided it's big. Because the system has convinced you it's big. Because everyone around you is taking it seriously, so you think you have to too.

But you don't.

Society's increased pressure on productivity and efficiency is baffling when you consider the actual results. We keep pushing for more. More output. More efficiency. More optimization. But the results don't justify it. The actual gain doesn't match the mental cost.

Randy Polito thinks about this constantly: How much of your stress is about things that matter, and how much is theater?

Here's the hard truth Randall Polito will tell you: you're not human capital. That's the language industries use to dehumanize you. To turn you into a resource to be optimized, squeezed, and replaced. But that's not what you are.

You're a human. With a body that needs rest. A mind that needs peace. A heart that needs connection. A spirit that needs meaning.

Rule 62 says: don't take yourself too seriously. But what it really means is this—take yourself seriously as a human. Not as a productivity unit. Not as human capital. Not as a resource for optimization.

As a person. With limits. With needs. With dignity.

If you can't take a breath, you've taken yourself too seriously. If you can't smile, you've taken your job too seriously. If you can't touch grass or have coffee or sit in silence—if your life doesn't allow for the basic practices that keep you human—then it's time to reevaluate.

Not the job. Not the role. But the why. Why are you doing this? What are you sacrificing? And is the trade worth it?

Randy Polito's answer for most people: no. It's not.

— Randy Polito