Joe Gregory

25 lessons from The Way of Excellence: 1. That you must suffer for greatness is a dangerous lie. Having fun is the greatest competitive advantage there is. 2. Doing hard things that align with your values is crucial for growth. You gain self-discipline, self-respect, and self-confidence. You gain evidence that you can navigate discomfort. 3. Just get started. People think you need to feel good to get going, but it’s usually the opposite: you need to get going to give yourself a chance at feeling good. 4. There are going to be periods of darkness. Stay patient. Keep showing up. Don’t be scared to ask for help. 5. The modern world is characterized by persistent distractions. Be intentional about deep focus work. 6. Giving things your all makes you a humble-badass; it hardens you and softens you at the same time. You learn you need self-discipline. You learn you need self-kindness. 7. You are not going to be the best at anything with an attitude of nonchalance. It’s a cop-out, a way to never make yourself vulnerable to failure. But if you never give anything your all, then you sacrifice so much of what makes life worth living. Try hard and give a damn. 8. Instead of trying to be “balanced,” think of life as having different seasons for different things. 9. Finish what you start—starting is easy and exciting. The middle is where most people quit. Finishing is a skill in its own right. Be the kind of person who follows through. 10. Confidence comes from evidence. Put in the work. Trust your training. Build your faith. Let it rip. 11. Don’t gamble away your self-worth in an existential casino. Likes, shares, followers, comments—sometimes this stuff matters professionally, but it doesn’t mean sh*t for who you really are. 12. Build an identity house that has more than one room. If you live in a house that only has one room—for example: athlete, parent, writer, or physician—and that one room floods, you have to move out of the house. But if you live in a house with multiple rooms, you can seek refuge in the others while you repair the damage. It’s important to have more than one room, because you never know when you’ll need to find strength and stability in the others. 13. Get good at something real. It doesn’t matter what the thing is—basketball, guitar, watercolor, public speaking, writing, running—what matters is that you develop skill and strive for progress at something. Competence is good for your soul. 14. Stop comparing your first draft to someone else’s final. We see the finished product but overlook the months, years, and at times decades of work that went into it. 15. Do not feel guilty about resting. If you never go easy, eventually you run yourself into the ground. 16. Be the type of person who shows up—at work, in community, in relationships. The little behaviors you do repeatedly compound to create something big. Become known for your consistency. 17. You are your surroundings—people, places, and things. An excellent life requires creating micro- environments that support your goals amid default environments that work against them. 18. Depression hates a moving target. Just because you stay busy or exercise doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t experience depression, but it’s the best prevention there is. 19. Adapt. The things that work, work—until they get in the way. This is true for tools, trackers, and even mindsets and routines. Don’t be scared to let go once it’s no longer serving you. 20. Failure is inevitable. Accept that it’s going to happen; give yourself a set amount of time to process and learn; then get back to work. It’s as simple and as hard as that. 21. Discipline is not a chest-thumping performative act of toughness. It is being the kind of person who shows up and does what you need to do. 22. Sleep when you are tired. 23. You are not the stuff inside your head. You are the awareness that decides what to do with the stuff inside your head. The ability to choose which thoughts to pursue and which to leave behind is key to everything. You don’t have to believe everything you think. 24. Stop trying to be perfect. It’s such a f*cking drain. That’s not permission to drop your standards altogether. It means being realistic. It means remembering you are a human, not a robot. It means being decent, giving what you’ve got, and showing up as best you can. 25. Achieving the goal isn’t going to change your life, but who you become in the process will. The top of the mountain is narrow. All the life is on the sides. Keep going.