Brad Stulberg

And when you pursue excellence, when you are serious about an activity, when that activity becomes a craft, one of the greatest rewards that you'll ever get from it, more than any medal or any income or any promotion, is a sense of satisfaction that you've gained skill and you've gained competence.

I think that the answer here is it depends.

Some of us are really fortunate to have a livelihood that very much aligns with our values, where we can pursue excellence and mastery in our work.

Some of us don't, and that's totally okay.

I think another big misconception is that excellence is just a pursuit that is professional.

So if you don't like your job, well, then you're never going to have an opportunity to have excellence in your life, especially in America.

I think that we often ask people, right, like, what do you do?

We over identify with our work.

And for some people, work is just that it's a way to pay the bills.

It's a way to open yourselves up to other leisure pursuits.

But that's where you get to pursue excellence, right?

Like you can pursue excellence as a musician.

You can do it as a baker.

You can do it as an athlete.

And it's not a standard.

It's not saying that you need to be world class.

It's the way that you approach the craft.

You approach it with focus.

You approach it with dedication, with commitment, with consistency, and you get better over time.

I think the way that I train in the gym, for example, is very much aligned with this kind of excellence.