Lessons from Brad Stulberg

"happiness, fulfillment, well-being, and sustainable performance arise when you concentrate on being present in the process of living instead of obsessing over outcomes, and above all when you're firmly grounded wherever you are." [1][2]
"Accept Where You Are to Get You Where You Want to Go. Seeing clearly, accepting, and starting where you are. Not where you want to be. Not where you think you should be. Not where other people think you should be. But where you are." [1][2]
"Recognize what is happening. Allow life to be just as it is. Investigate your inner experience with kindness and curiosity." [1][3]
"We need to stop spending so much time worrying about our metaphorical overstory, our high-hanging branches, and instead focus on nourishing our deep and internal roots." [2]
"Being grounded means understanding and accepting oneself, which creates a strong foundation from which to pursue goals." [4]
"A wandering mind is an unhappy mind." [4]
"You can't work on something in a meaningful way if you are fighting it at the same time." [4]
"Focus on being where you are and applying the principles of groundedness to the best of your ability right now." [4]

"Stress + rest = growth. This equation holds true regardless of what it is that you are trying to grow." [1][5]
"Growth comes at the point of resistance; we learn by pushing ourselves to the outer reaches of our abilities." [1][3]
"It isn't experience that sets top performers apart but the amount of deliberate practice they put in." [1][3]
"The real secret of world-class performers is not the daily routines that they develop, but that they stick to them. That they show up, even when they don't feel like it." [1][5]
"Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect." [6]
"Those who can't figure out the right balance either get hurt or burn out (too much stress, not enough rest) or become complacent and plateau (not enough stress, too much rest)." [6]
"When you go big or go home, you often end up home. When you go incrementally over a long period of time, you often end up with something big." [7]
"Confidence comes from proof, growth needs discomfort, big successes come after hard work, people around you influence you, and being consistent is more important than motivation." [8]

"You don't become what you think. You become what you do." [1][3]
"Mood follows action. Don't wait to be super motivated to get going. Get going consistently and then you'll become super motivated." [9]
"happiness equals reality minus expectations, and suffering equals pain times resistance." [1][2]
"Wise hope and wise action ask that you accept and see a situation clearly for what it is, and then, with the hopeful attitude necessary, say, Well, this is what is happening now, so I will focus on what I can control, try not to obsess over what I can't, and do the best I can." [10]
"Non-dual thinking recognizes that the world is complex, that much is nuanced, and that truth is often found in paradox: not this or that, but this and that." [10]
"Control your passion so it doesn't control you. There's a big difference between loving the process of writing and loving the external validation you get from your work. The former is a path to long-term fulfillment. The latter is a path to anxiety and burnout." [9]
"Those who are most focused on reaching some external barometer of success are often the same people who struggle most to enjoy it." [3]

"Purpose fosters motivation; motivation lets us endure a greater perception of effort; and enduring a greater perception of effort often results in better performance." [1][3]
"The process of setting a goal on the outer boundaries of what we think is possible, and then systematically pursuing it, is one of the most fulfilling parts about being human." [3]
"Instead of thinking about 'this is what I want to accomplish,' think 'this is the path I want to walk.'" [11]
"A good purpose is 'I want to help children to receive the best education possible.' A bad purpose might be 'I want to be a billionaire' because it is too self-oriented and does not necessarily reflect your core value, except that you probably love money." [12]
"Having a personal purpose puts you in a positive feedback loop: purpose brings you motivation, motivation brings effort, effort leads to better performance, better performance reinforces your belief in your purpose." [12]

"In a society that glorifies grinding, short-term gains and pushing to extremes, it takes guts to rest." [1][3]
"Stress demands rest, and rest supports stress." [1][3]
"The more stress, the more rest that is needed." [6]
"If we never take 'easy' periods, we are never able to go full throttle and the 'hard' periods end up being not that hard at all." [6]
"Rest is not laziness, but a necessary component of success." [13]

"Even seemingly trivial decisions deplete us." [1][3]
"Single-task: The next time you feel like multitasking, remind yourself that research shows it's not effective." [1]
"The key to being a minimalist is making a routine out of just about everything that is not core to your mission." [1]
"If we're not careful and protective of our attention, it can seem like we're losing control of our lives, bouncing from one distraction to the next." [4]
"Simplify your life by eliminating options so you don't have to waste your resources on trivial tasks." [12]

"It's really helpful to think about your identity like a house. and you want to have at least a couple of rooms in that house... you never want to completely shut those other doors. because by diversifying your sense of self. you. become more resilient to change." [14]
"If I could define my identity as someone that values mastery and athleticism and community then losing running is not a loss of identity. it's a shift in how I express that part of my identity." [15]
"Rugged flexibility" is the ability to be both strong and adaptable, to know your core values but be flexible in how you apply them.
"If you think about growth over a decade, suddenly, a bad training cycle or two doesn't really matter, and you should actually expect them." [11]

"Embrace vulnerability for real strength." [16]
"The power of community is truly unleashed when individuals are grounded in their own values and are present and authentic when interacting with others." [16]

On Routines: Each individual should figure out when they are most alert and focused and design their day accordingly, optimizing around their chronotype. [3][17]
On Flexibility in Routines: Aim for a routine that works most of the time, but don't let perfection be the enemy of good enough. Stay flexible. [11]
On Tradeoffs vs. Balance: "Don't think 'balance'; It's an illusion. Think tradeoffs... think long and hard about where (and why) you want to focus your energy and effort, and pursue those things." [7]
On the Mind-Body Connection: "The mind and body are interconnected; exercise is crucial to both physical and mental health." [16]
On Heroic Individualism: Striving for success in a way that glorifies productivity and individual achievement often leads to burnout and unhappiness. [16]
On Long-Term Perspective: "Take a long view and assume you will fail every now and again." [4]

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