Brad Stulberg

And that was, I think, my own experience plus that was the juncture that led me to say that, hey, I've spent enough time exploring the evidence-based principles for when everything is clicking, the top of the metaphorical mountain, now I want to explore the base.

So I wanted to be really broad in this approach, and that's because I wanted to get as close to truth with a capital T. And what I mean by that is principles that I can be confident apply to most people in most situations.

So I thought of the research process as a three-legged stool.

And one leg of that stool was what I'll call modern empirical science.

So what are the findings in peer-reviewed studies?

What are the findings in meta-analyses or studies of studies?

The second leg of that stool is history and ancient wisdom.

So what themes are prevalent across various perennial wisdom traditions, Buddhism, Taoism, Stoicism?

What themes have applied at some points of history but not others?

And then the third leg of the stool is daily concrete practicality.

So when I go talk to people that are practicing groundedness out in their lives, that are experiencing a more fulfilling, easeful kind of success, what are they doing?

And I spent about a year, just thousands of note cards laying out all of these findings and themes and boiling down, boiling down, boiling down to eventually these six principles that kept coming up in all three of those areas.

So in the modern science and the ancient wisdom in history and in daily practice of people in the world today.

And the reason I said three-legged stool is if you think about a stool, if it's got three legs, it's sturdy.

You can be confident it's going to hold you.

It's got two legs, it's wobbly.

If it's got one or zero legs, it's not going to work.

And since groundedness is all about like a foundation to hold you, I felt like I really had to be sure that everything in this book has all three legs.

Well, so you defined it from the book.

And I think that the way that I think about it when it becomes problematic is when you're more worried about beating yourself or other people