Let’s clear something up right out of the gate.
If you’ve relatively new to Optimized Pastor Newsletter, there’s a possible misunderstanding we want to kill... gently, but decisively.
We do not teach perpetual peak performance.
We do not believe optimization means operating at 100% intensity, 100% of the time.
And we are deeply suspicious of anyone who claims they’ve cracked that code without caffeine, denial, or a future sabbatical.
If “optimization” sounds like keeping your foot on the accelerator forever, congratulations...
You’ve just invented burnout with better branding.
The Quiet Myth Pastors Carry
Most pastors don’t say this, but...
Many live as if once they get their schedule tightened up,
their health dialed in,
their systems working,
and their leadership rhythm established...
they should be able to run that version of life indefinitely.
No adjustments.
No recalibration.
No regard for season, circumstance, or reality.
Same pace in July as October.
Same expectations in December as February.
Same capacity at 52 as 38.
That’s not wisdom-driven optimism, bro.
It's naivety with gray hair.
Creation Has Seasons. Pastors Pretend They Don’t.
God hard-wired seasonality into creation:
- day and night
- sowing and reaping
- growth and pruning
- work and rest
Pastors, meanwhile, look at this divine design and say,
“Yes, but surely ministry is exempt.”
It isn’t.
Trying to live without seasons is like insisting your church run Easter Sunday energy every week.
Technically possible.
Practically catastrophic.
Three Kinds of Seasonality That Matter (and Refuse to Be Ignored)
1. The Seasonality of the Year
Some months are heavy.
Some are light.
Some are chaotic.
Some feel suspiciously quiet and make you wonder if you forgot something important.
Fall ministry push, Christmas, and Easter are not meant to feel like summer.
If they do, something is off...
And it’s usually you.
Optimization insight:
You don’t manage time.
You manage intensity.
Running October expectations in July is how pastors end up exhausted on vacation and strangely energized in staff meetings they don’t need to be at.
2. The Seasonality of Life
Young kids change everything.
Teenagers change it again.
Empty nest changes it in ways no one warns you about. (My sign reads "You Are Here.")
Energy shifts.
Sleep changes.
Margin disappears, then reappears...
But never where you left it.
Pretending capacity doesn’t change is a bad idea...
and certainly isn't faith.
It’s ignoring the dashboard while the engine light flashes.
Optimization insight:
Capacity is morally neutral.
Wisdom is adjusting to it.
3. The Seasonality of Ministry
A 75-person church and a 300-person church require different leadership muscles.
What once worked relationally eventually needs systems.
What once felt pastoral eventually requires delegation.
What once felt simple eventually becomes complex.
If you keep leading a growing ministry like it’s still small, the ministry won’t suffer first...
You will.
Optimization insight:
Systems must evolve or they quietly turn into stress multipliers.
Where Burnout Actually Comes From
Most burnout doesn’t come from laziness or lack of discipline.
It comes from using last season’s expectations in this season’s reality.
We compare ourselves to:
- a younger version of ourselves
- another pastor in a different season
- a ministry chapter that no longer exists
Then we spiritualize the frustration.
Sometimes it’s not a spiritual issue.
Sometimes it’s a calendar issue.
What We Mean by Optimization (And What We Don’t)
Let’s be very clear:
Optimization does not mean staying at peak performance all the time.
That’s not biblical, not biological, and not remotely sustainable.
Optimization means:
- aligning inputs with the season you’re actually in
- adjusting pace without guilt
- changing expectations without questioning your calling
Granted, many of our readers are in better shape, more productive—or both—than they were in their 20s.
That surprises people, but it shouldn’t.
Getting serious about optimization can sometimes change a season altogether.
BUT... that doesn’t mean every season is meant to be pushed.
Sometimes the most optimized move is to lower the volume,
simplify the system,
and stop pretending this chapter should feel like a different one.
That’s not quitting.
That’s actual, real-life, bonafide stewardship.
A Better Definition
True optimization isn’t about maxing out.
True optimization is making the most of what God's put under your stewardship while being seasonally aligned.
The optimized pastor regularly asks:
- What season am I in, really?
- What does faithfulness look like here, not five years ago?
- What needs to change so I can last longer and lead better?
Alignment beats intensity every time.
Bottom Line
If something feels off...
it may not be your discipline, your doctrine, or your devotion.
You might just be trying to live a winter life with summer expectations.
Optimization begins when you stop fighting the season you're in...
and start stewarding it like you're supposed to be there.
(Because you are.)
And yes... that means you’re allowed to stop trying to preach Easter sermons with Christmas-level exhaustion in July.
More Resources To Help You Optimize
💊 My (Scott's) full supplement regimen