A couple of likely-imperfectly-organized thoughts: I also have gone through relatively similar experiences where I felt like if I knew what was optimal, I felt like it was wrong for me to not do it. However, I want to really echo what some of the other people said in the answers by also saying that I came to recognize that as humans, we face an is-ought fallacy with our psychology/physiology: we can think “I shouldn’t get tired of doing good, I ought to not get tired of self-sacrifice, etc.” but we can’t perfectly control our bodies’/brains’ chemical and electrical processes: at some point, if you push yourself too hard physically or berate yourself too much psychologically/mentally, you will likely break/suffer under stress (which will undermine your ability to and/or likelihood of doing good in the long run). I can’t tell you what the perfect balance is, and I know I struggle with overcoming my akrasia/I should be doing more in certain ways, but I also think that it’s better to err on the side of “not mentally snapping”. You can try to push your mental limits, but you also have to be seriously and truly honest with yourself in answering questions (not just at a single point in time) like “Will I actually be able to keep up this ascetic-altruistic lifestyle for the next few years?” Personally, I can—and I try—to do better, but I am confident that I can comfortably keep up the lifestyle and donation % I am planning for the coming years.
A couple of likely-imperfectly-organized thoughts:
I also have gone through relatively similar experiences where I felt like if I knew what was optimal, I felt like it was wrong for me to not do it. However, I want to really echo what some of the other people said in the answers by also saying that I came to recognize that as humans, we face an is-ought fallacy with our psychology/physiology: we can think “I shouldn’t get tired of doing good, I ought to not get tired of self-sacrifice, etc.” but we can’t perfectly control our bodies’/brains’ chemical and electrical processes: at some point, if you push yourself too hard physically or berate yourself too much psychologically/mentally, you will likely break/suffer under stress (which will undermine your ability to and/or likelihood of doing good in the long run). I can’t tell you what the perfect balance is, and I know I struggle with overcoming my akrasia/I should be doing more in certain ways, but I also think that it’s better to err on the side of “not mentally snapping”. You can try to push your mental limits, but you also have to be seriously and truly honest with yourself in answering questions (not just at a single point in time) like “Will I actually be able to keep up this ascetic-altruistic lifestyle for the next few years?” Personally, I can—and I try—to do better, but I am confident that I can comfortably keep up the lifestyle and donation % I am planning for the coming years.