The Way of Excellence — by Brad Stulberg
Reactions/What am I still thinking about?
The book felt like a solid compilation of many ideas about excellence. It felt like it was trying to unify them into a universal guide/narrative, but some of it was unconvincing. The part about cells striving towards excellence felt weak (the whole first part in fact was not very attention grabbing). Later on, it had some better insights. This was the first book that I actually wrote in. I wrote a lot of comments, but I cannot remember much of it now—maybe that’s telling.
The main things I’m still thinking about were some of the chapters on consistency, especially longterm consistency over short term consistency. Consistency doesn’t necessarily mean to do 4 hours of work every day. Sometimes breaks are necessary to be consistent long term. The idea of creating meaningful pauses between projects was also interesting to me because it helps define accomplishments. The majority of the stuff on consistency I already knew—do a little bit each day (having a low floor is best for keeping a streak going). I found much of James Clear’s writing on this topic more impactful. It was a good reminder though.
What am I taking away from it/What will I change?
Honestly, not much. I felt like I was already kind of on the right track before the book. My small goals for reading and journaling that I started two months ago have been the single best habit that I’ve been able to build. The consistency piece in the book seems to be the most relevant to me now and I was already on the right track.
From second pass:
- Try to keep a minimum of activity in time off to make reentry less likely to lead to injury. Slowly build up workload and once it’s up, try to maintain it.
- When writing or working out or in ballet class, don’t go to failure. Prioritize long-term consistency over short term heroism.
- Regularly think about what my true priorities are and what I can sacrifice (or give a minimum effective effort) I already do this, but worth stating explicitly.
- Prioritize focus – reading and writing (from Cal Newport) – I’m already trying to do this with my daily journaling and reading habits.
- Be discerning with who I choose to spend my time with. Don’t be
afraid to let some people go whose goals don’t align with my own. I
already knew this, but worth putting here.
- Go to more events with people who I align with. Speaker series, etc.
- Stop worrying about systematizing my life and doing things more efficiency. Focus on reflecting regularly about whether I’m doing the right things. – already doing this through my journaling habit
Going back through highlights
- Having an identity made up of more than just your primary pursuit is useful. I already knew this, but it seems relevant to me now as I’m trying to cultivate a strong education alongside ballet. I could tell last year that focusing just on ballet was not enough and I needed more.
- An idea I’d thought of before, but was articulated well: Excellence does not come from rationalization but from a feeling of rightness. I had actually thought about writing an article on this earlier, but this was a powerful point from the book that I obviously agree with. I don’t know exactly how it is applicable, aside from regular check ins to monitor how I’m feeling. I think my journaling habit already encompasses this.
- Something I’m not sure if I agree with: Improving yourself (striving
for personal excellence) is more important than outwardly trying to
improve the world. You improve the world through improving yourself and
focusing on your craft.
- I’m just not sure if getting a world record in swimming is as impactful or meaningful as plenty of scientific work. Not all excellence is =
- Argument against James Clear’s 1% better each day—consistency is important in input, but an output of 1% better each day is unreasonable
- Study about athletes’ workflows – adding too much volume too quickly is associated with much higher injury risks. I already knew this, but the reminder and data have changed how I’ve approached coming back from my injury and how I’ll approach time off in the future.
- Idea to stop before failure – stop one sentence short so friction becomes less the next day
- Necessity of prioritization. You cannot be great while being balanced. Connects to Derek Sivers quote. You can achieve all you want in life but not at the same time.
- Focus needs to be trained. Doing hard things, meditation. Taken from Cal Newport, but worth remembering.
- Walk when you need ideas. Short breaks are generative. Rest should not be work. It cannot be forced.
- Much of the current discourse on sleep exaggerates its impact. People have been productive and achieved amazing feats on little sleep. Still aim for the right amount, but a few nights of low sleep don’t really matter for performance.
- Already knew this, but the people you surround yourself with matter. It is a lot easier to be great when your friends are choosing greatness as well. (He gave a lot of studies with crazy results, though. The effect is even more powerful than I assumed.)
- Doing the right main things matters more than the efficiency with which you do them.
- Rewards for activities come from growth, not checkpoints or accomplishments.