Life is hard. Let me just try to scratch my way forward.

I'm Angela Duckworth. I'm Stephen Dubner. And you're listening to No Stupid Questions.

Today on the show is enthusiasm, the real secret to success. I'm hearing just, I'm hearing

flow. I feel like I'm tasting a wine now. They're hints of oak. Angela, I have a question that's both

a problem and a solution. A puzzle wrapped in a negma covered with mystery.

So I've been preparing for a golf competition that's coming up in California.

There is a thing in golf called a pro-am, which is attached to a professional tournament,

the day or two or three days before it. There is a competition where one pro will play with

a few amateurs. And the one I'm playing in is a little bit different. It's a collegiate challenge

where there are college players. So there will be a force them with the best college player from a

given program, a pro that they'll be matched up with. And then two alumni of that institution.

I'm playing as an alum with a Columbia golfer and another Columbia alum and a pro. And my performance

matters almost zero unless we win, which would give some scholarship money to the college. The

chances of winner very slim. But I want to do well. You're competitive. I guess I am competitive.

And also I'm competitive with myself. I like improving. Competitive doesn't necessarily mean

beating other people, but you're a striver. So I've been trying to prepare for this

match, both physically, which is hard in New York City because it's cold. You can't get outside

and play. And prepare mentally. So mentally, one thing I'm really focused on is not choking.

To do so, I've been reading a book by Gary Player, who's one of the best golfers in history. He's

in his mid 80s now. And this book he wrote some years ago is called quite directly don't choke

a champion's guide to winning under pressure. So I've been reading this and I can't say that I've

learned all that much about choking. The book is not really about choking. It's more of a manual

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