Optimum or Maximum?

My PE teacher once told me this:

There's a different between optimum and maximum. Optimum means you give an enough amount of efforts for a goal so it happen. Maximum means you give all your efforts for a goal so it happen that you could die.

Now, the question is, will you give your maximum for a goal that's really worth it? No one's willing to die anyway, I presume. I didn't say that someone will die after giving their maximum efforts anyway, I just said that someone MIGHT die because of it.
And when I got a question like that, all I can think is: "GOD NEVER LEAVES YOU ALONE". Your effort that been given, will give you a proportional result back. So, the only thing that you can do to make something works, is that you work that out. At least, that's what I believe.

Adios! ^^