Brad Stulberg

I talked to over 100, like truly world-class elite performers in different domains and every single one of them,

every single one to a person, told me that yes, they struggle, and yes, there is suffering, and yes, there's discomfort involved, but they also experience so much joy in the totality of the pursuit.

And that's not just for world beaters, that's for all of us.

A good life requires doing hard things, taking on meaningful challenges, exerting yourself, finding your limit, pushing against it,

Not every day is going to be fun, but you also have to be able to smile and enjoy and at the very least experience satisfaction, not happiness, but satisfaction in what you're doing.

And I think those are important ingredients, not only to our greatest creations and contributions to our communities and perhaps to the world, but also just to a good individual life.

One that is close to this kind of cheer and I think potentially more potent is curiosity.

So curiosity is a superpower for achievement and for the pursuit of excellence.

And the reason for that is, so there's this saying, get just 1% better every day.

You've probably heard it.

And as a mindset, it's great.

It's a nod to consistency, which I totally agree with.

I'm going to talk about consistency in a second, maybe.

It says you don't have to hit home runs.

You don't have to be a hero.

You don't have to train till you puke.

Just show up and get a little bit better every day.

And those small gains compound and you get something big.

I agree with all of that.

However, what happens is that when you're new to a pursuit, you actually do get 1% better every day.