We Study Billionaires - The Investor’s Podcast Network RWH065: Joyful Excellence w/ Brad Stulberg
Brad Stulberg, author and performance coach focused on sustainable excellence and well-being. He explores why excellence blends courage with vulnerability. He warns about tech-driven distraction and outlines mundane daily rituals, rest practices, and simple routines that protect focus. He also discusses aligning work with core values and how intensity plus joy sustains long-term mastery.
01:38:59
Excellence As A Lifelong Path
- Excellence is a lived, ongoing path rather than a destination you finally reach.
- Brad Stulberg argues aspiring toward excellence orients life toward meaning and growth.
Quality Bridges Self And Craft
- Quality collapses the distance between actor and action and builds intimacy with craft.
- Stulberg links Persig's "quality" to personal and cultural evolution and anti-alienation.
Seinfeld: Craft Measured By The Audience
- Jerry Seinfeld still performs because the barometer of craft is whether the joke lands.
- Stulberg uses Seinfeld to show concrete feedback yields deep satisfaction.
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Intro
00:00 • 2min
Why Brad Became Obsessed with Excellence
01:54 • 2min
Persig, Quality, and the Origin of the Book
04:00 • 4min
Quality as Intimacy Between Actor and Act
07:30 • 2min
Concrete Work and the Satisfaction of Skill
09:40 • 3min
Innate Sense of Beauty and Excellence
12:39 • 8min
Defining Excellence: Involved Engagement
20:16 • 3min
Algorithmic Distraction and Pseudo-Excellence
23:40 • 3min
Ad break
27:00 • 4min
Designing an Ecosystem Resistant to Distraction
30:41 • 4min
The Mundane Lives of Top Performers
34:15 • 8min
Identifying Core Values Practically
42:20 • 4min
Trade-offs, Identity Rooms, and Seasons
46:40 • 5min
Minimum Effective Doses to Maintain Rooms
51:50 • 2min
Healthy vs. Reckless Obsession
53:40 • 4min
Rest and Renewal as Integral to Work
57:43 • 3min
Ad break
01:00:35 • 4min
Micro-Breaks, Default-Mode Creativity, and Walks
01:04:17 • 3min
Consistency, Compounding, and Raising the Floor
01:07:31 • 14min
Three Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Practices
01:21:23 • 4min
Deep Work, Cal Newport, and the Deep Life
01:25:41 • 3min
Shaping Physical Space to Support Focus
01:29:00 • 4min
Intensity Plus Joy and Celebratory Rituals
01:32:41 • 5min
Becoming Stronger, Kinder, and Wiser
01:38:00 • 5min
Outro
01:42:47 • 48sec
#157
• Mentioned in 122 episodes
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Robert Pirsig
This classic novel by Robert M. Pirsig is a personal and philosophical odyssey that delves into the author's search for meaning.
The narrative follows a father and his son on a summer motorcycle trip from the Midwest to California, intertwining a travelogue with deep philosophical discussions.
The book explores the concept of 'quality' and how it informs a well-lived life, reconciling science, religion, and humanism.
It also touches on the author's own struggles with his past and his philosophical quest, making it a touching and transcendent exploration of human experience and endeavor.
#2016
• Mentioned in 20 episodes
Lincoln in the Bardo
Yannick Garcia Porres
George Saunders
Javier Calvo Perales
The novel is set in 1862 during the American Civil War and revolves around the death of Willie Lincoln, the 11-year-old son of President Abraham Lincoln.
After Willie's death from typhoid fever, his spirit finds itself in a limbo known as the bardo, a concept borrowed from Tibetan Buddhism.
Here, he encounters a diverse group of ghosts who are also trapped between the world of the living and the afterlife.
The story delves into themes of grief, both personal and national, as Lincoln grapples with the loss of his son amidst the broader context of the Civil War. The novel is characterized by its unique narrative style, which includes a multitude of voices and historical quotes, and its exploration of the human experience of suffering and love.
#1198
• Mentioned in 30 episodes
The Practice of Groundedness
A Transformative Path to Success That Feeds--Not Crushes--Your Soul
Brad Stulberg
In this book, Brad Stulberg presents a healthier model for success that counters the 'always-on' hustle culture.
Groundedness, the central concept, values presence over productivity, accepts nonlinear progress, and prioritizes long-term fulfillment.
The book interweaves case studies, modern science, and ancient wisdom from Buddhism, Stoicism, and Taoism to teach readers how to cultivate a more grounded life.
Key practices include accepting where you are, being present, developing patience, embracing vulnerability, building deep community, and focusing on the process rather than outcomes.
#180
• Mentioned in 112 episodes
Richer, Wiser, Happier
How the World's Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life
William Green
In Richer, Wiser, Happier, William Green draws on interviews conducted over twenty-five years with many of the world’s greatest investors.
The book highlights that the most successful investors are mavericks and iconoclasts who question conventional wisdom and think rationally, rigorously, and objectively.
They maximize their odds of long-term success in markets and life by drawing insights from diverse fields such as neuroscience, economic history, psychology, philosophy, and more.
Green explains how these investors can teach us not only how to become rich but also how to improve our thinking, decision-making, risk assessment, and resilience, and how to turn uncertainty to our advantage.
#11589
• Mentioned in 4 episodes
On Quality
An Inquiry into Excellence
Wendy K. Pirsig
Robert Pirsig
On Quality features selections from Robert M. Pirsig's unpublished writings, offering insights into his Metaphysics of Quality.
The book delves into the concept of 'Quality', which Pirsig saw as akin to excellence or rightness, drawing parallels with Buddhist ideas like 'dharma' or the 'Tao'.
It provides a comprehensive look at Pirsig's philosophical development over five decades.
#1991
• Mentioned in 20 episodes
Master of Change
Brad Stulberg
Master of Change offers practical principles for cultivating a resilient mindset called 'rugged flexibility,' empowering readers to adapt, strengthen, and gain wisdom amidst life's constant fluctuations.
The book describes change as an ongoing cycle of order, disorder, and reorder, and provides concrete habits and practices to implement this mindset.
It emphasizes the importance of reflection, embracing feelings of sadness and loss, and taking productive action during challenges.
Stulberg introduces the 4P framework: pause, process, plan, and proceed, to help readers respond effectively to change.
#7
• Mentioned in 461 episodes
Deep Work
Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
Cal Newport
In 'Deep Work', Cal Newport argues that the ability to perform deep work—professional activities in a state of distraction-free concentration—is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy.
The book is divided into two parts: the first part explains why deep work is valuable, rare, and meaningful, while the second part presents four rules to transform your mind and habits to support this skill.
These rules include 'Work Deeply', 'Embrace Boredom', 'Quit Social Media', and 'Drain the Shallows'.
Newport provides actionable advice and examples from various successful individuals to help readers master the skill of deep work and achieve groundbreaking results.
#3844
• Mentioned in 11 episodes
The Way of Excellence
Brad Stulberg
#3017
• Mentioned in 14 episodes
Lila
An Inquiry Into Morals
Robert Pirsig
In 'Lila: An Inquiry into Morals', Robert M. Pirsig continues his philosophical journey from 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'.
The story follows Phaedrus, Pirsig's alter ego, as he sails down the Hudson River and encounters Lila, a woman struggling with mental health issues and a chaotic life.
The book delves into Pirsig's Metaphysics of Quality, distinguishing between static and dynamic quality, and explores themes such as morality, the interaction between intellectual and social patterns, and the critique of Western civilization's binary thinking.
Through Lila's tumultuous life, Pirsig examines whether individuals who embody dynamic quality can be considered morally good, and whether moral value is static or dynamic.
William Green welcomes back bestselling author Brad Stulberg to chat about his new book, The Way of Excellence: A Guide to True Greatness & Deep Satisfaction in a Chaotic World. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:
00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:27 - How Brad Stulberg became obsessed with the pursuit of excellence 00:18:49 - Why excellence requires a combination of guts & vulnerability 00:22:51 - How “algorithmic mass distraction” blocks us from a life of excellence 00:30:10 - Why the best performers lead lives that often look mundane & boring 00:38:00 - How to identify your core values & align your career with them 00:42:22 - How we drive ourselves crazy pursuing the illusion of balance 00:53:18 - Why periods of rest & renewal are integral to success & creativity 01:07:30 - Why the key to greatness is consistency—especially on bad days 01:13:43 - Why excelling at hard things requires “fierce self-kindness” 01:21:19 - How Brad structures his daily, weekly & monthly routines 01:25:33 - What he’s learned about deep work from his friend Cal Newport 01:28:51 - How to create a physical environment that supports good habits 01:37:36 - How to work with intensity & joy & to become a “humble badass”
Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences.
BOOKS AND RESOURCES
- Join the exclusive TIP Mastermind Community to engage in meaningful stock investing discussions with Stig, Clay, Kyle, and the other community members.
- Inquire about William Green’s Richer, Wiser, Happier Masterclass.
- Brad’s website.
- Brad’s podcast.
- Brad's The Way of Excellence.
- Brad's Master of Change & The Practice of Groundedness.
- Robert Pirsig's Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Lila & On Quality.
- Cal Newport's Deep Work.
- George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo.
- William Green’s previous podcast with Brad Stulberg.
- William Green’s book, Richer, Wiser, Happier.
- Follow William Green on X.
- Related books mentioned in the podcast.
- Ad-free episodes on our Premium Feed.
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