Brad Stulberg

You know, I'm not trying to be excellent at watching Netflix.

Sometimes I watch Netflix just because I like it.

So I am not arguing that we should be perfectionist and we should be these type A buttoned up pushers in every domain of life.

What I'm arguing is that we should pick one or two activities.

that we do enjoy and that we want to push ourselves in, not just because we're excited about the results, but because we think that the person we're going to become along the way is aligned with our values, and we should bring this orientation to those select activities.

I think that it is a connection to yourself and a feeling of deep satisfaction in fulfillment.

Without getting too philosophical, I think that one of the biggest challenges or problems of modern life is alienation.

Alienation is just a fancy way of saying we feel a disconnect from each other, we feel a disconnect from ourselves, and sometimes we feel a disconnect from our own lives.

We're going through the motions.

We're constantly distracted.

I think that when you pursue excellence, you get really close to a craft.

You get intimate with it.

It requires deep focus.

You get competence.

You get mastery.

And not only do you get to learn that craft in a deep way, but you also get to learn about yourself.

And I think that that intrinsic reward is really the whole point of the entire endeavor.

Yeah, that's right, and it's totally okay to quit.

There's a lot of talk about grit, and grit is really important.

It's passion, it's perseverance, it's stick-to-it-ness, and you absolutely need grit.