Focus on the Process
I’ve been reading The Passion Paradox by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness. It’s not a long book – 164 pages – but it’s packed with practical ideas and analogies. Not a quick read. In fact, after reading it once and putting it down for a few weeks, I picked it back up and am reading it again. Am seeing more the second time through for sure! That’s often the case with good books. For the record, the authors are accomplished runners and coaches. Magness ran a 4:01 mile in high school. I’ve heard conversations with each of them on The Morning Shakeout Podcast with Mario Fraioli. Both really solid, thoughtful guys, which led me to buying the book. The essence of the book is that passion can be the fuel to do great things. It can also lead us off a cliff. Rather than seeking a balanced life, when we are driven by passion things can be great – we’re focused and full of energy – things get done – but we need to watch for signs we’re approaching the cliff. One of the dangers of passion is it is often results oriented: “I do this so I can accomplish that.” And it may happen, but it may not. They use an example of Brenda Martinez leading … Continue reading