Had another thought on this after running some errands and doing some housework:

Lines such as this: 

don't boil the ocean

feel like hyperbolic advisories.

Kind of like : you don't have to be a 

billionaire

to be happy.

Or you don't have to be as buff as 

Arnold Schwarzenegger

.

They are true, but present ineffective 

rhetoric

.

I believe this to be the case because of two reasons.

1. people immediately shut out things that feel obvious. They'll say "oh i already heard that" "i already know that" and they'll move along as before.

2. even if they do listen because maybe the adage is a new one to them or they happen to feel more open minded that day -- they don't know what to do next. 

Like if i don't need to be a billionaire to be happy then are you saying i should be a 9-figure millionaire? 8-figure millionaire?

If not as buff as Arnold are you telling me I should be -- blah blah blah.

The though i had as I was closing out my housework was that it'd be more effective to question what one's temperature is. What volume of water are you able to boil.

Are you a quarter gallon 

saucepan

?

Are you a industrial vat?

Tell someone don't boil the ocean they'll go try to boil a lake. When what would be most useful is probably asking.. what can i boil?