A Different Take on Excellent That Changes Everything | Brad Stulberg
Good Life Project
Jonathan Fields / Acast
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 12 February 2026
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What if excellence isn’t about winning, but becoming?
For so many of us, the word excellence has become tangled up with perfectionism, obsession, and relentless hustle. No wonder it feels heavy, triggering, or out of reach.
In this conversation, we explore a very different understanding of excellence, one rooted in meaning, care, and deep engagement. Together, we unpack why modern life makes it so hard to focus, why joy and rest are essential to growth, and how pursuing what truly matters can quietly reshape who you become.
Brad Stulberg is a bestselling author, writer for The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, co-host of the podcast Excellence, Actually, and faculty member at the University of Michigan. His newest book is The Way of Excellence: A Guide to True Greatness and Deep Satisfaction in a Chaotic World.
In this episode, you’ll discover
- A powerful redefinition of excellence that frees you from perfectionism
- Why mastery and mattering are essential for deep satisfaction
- A simple way to reclaim focus in a world designed to distract you
- How joy, rest, and renewal fuel long-term growth
- A practical framework for balancing ambition with the rest of your life
If you’ve ever felt pulled to do meaningful work but exhausted by the way success is usually framed, this conversation offers a wiser, more human path forward. Press play to explore what excellence can become.
You can find Brad at: Website | LinkedIn | Episode Transcript
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So there's this word that gets thrown around a lot, and for many of us it's become heavy, |
| 0:04.6 | or at the very least loaded. |
| 0:06.7 | Excellence. |
| 0:07.7 | It can sound like pressure, like perfection, like hustle at all costs. |
| 0:11.3 | But what if it's not what excellence was ever meant to be? |
| 0:14.7 | In today's conversation, I sit down with Brad Stolberg, to explore a far more grounded |
| 0:18.9 | human understanding of excellence, one that's not about winning |
| 0:22.6 | or grinding yourself into the ground or being the best in the world, but rather about caring |
| 0:27.4 | deeply, giving yourself fully to what matters, and letting the process shape who you become |
| 0:32.5 | along the way. Brad is a bestselling author, a longtime contributor to The New York Times, |
| 0:38.2 | and the author of his newest book, The Way of Excellence. His work blends science, philosophy, and lived experience |
| 0:43.7 | in a way that feels both wise and deeply practical. And in this conversation, we talk about |
| 0:49.1 | how we've gotten excellence all wrong and a better way to think about it and why attention |
| 0:53.9 | is so hard to hold right now |
| 0:55.8 | and how that really hurts us and why joy and rest are essential parts of growth and excellence. |
| 1:01.3 | And also how the pursuit of mastery and meaning work together with doing things purely for joy |
| 1:07.3 | to create a life that feels deeply alive. This is a conversation for anyone who wants to |
| 1:12.2 | grow and create and contribute without burning out or losing themselves along the way. So excited |
| 1:17.4 | to share this conversation with you. I'm Jonathan Fields and this is Good Life Project. |
| 1:26.6 | You and I've had a conversation before, and I'm excited to dive in. |
| 1:30.4 | The topic is excellence, and this is something I've thought so much about over the years. |
| 1:35.9 | I've explored. |
... |
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