7 Principles that Coexist on the Path to Excellence

How mastery comes from knowing what tools to use and when

The path of excellence requires having the right tools and knowing when to use them. It's crucial to acknowledge that multiple things can be true at once. The things that work, work great—until they get in the way. A big part of what makes the pursuit of excellence endlessly interesting is exploring what approach to use when.

Things that can coexist on the path to excellence:

Intensity and Joy:

You can push hard, be serious, be laser focused and find deep joy in the process.

Not every day is going to be great.

But if you can learn to have fun and find joy in the totality of what you are doing, then you are going to last much longer.

Confidence and Humility:

Confidence comes from evidence. When you give yourself the evidence you need to own your seat you also become humbler. Not every challenge or new idea is perceived as a threat.

You don't need to be defensive because you know you belong. You understand that humility is the key to growth, and that growth is the key to maintaining your confidence.

Solitude and Community:

Humans have dual drives: to become independent and also to belong.

There is power in stepping away from the noise and hustle and reconnecting with yourself. There is power in immersing yourself in community—in contributing and giving and receiving energy.

Both of these things can be true at once.

Self-Discipline and Self-Kindness:

Doing hard things is hard. It takes guts to put yourself out there and step into the arena. You need discipline. But what makes your discipline sustainable is your ability to have your own back.

You need to be able to get back up and brush yourself off after you fall.

Hard Work and Rest:

Hustle culture is shallow, gimmicky, and obsessed with performative grinding. It burns bright and then burns out.

Genuine high performers work extremely hard but they also make time to rest and recover. They understand that lasting growth emerges from a cycle of stress and rest, experience and reflection.

Success and Failure:

The road to long-term success is paved with short-term failures. If you want to push yourself and explore your potential, then failure is a risk you must take. The occasional failure is inevitable. Feel the pain. Learn from it if you can. And then continue along your way.

Consistency and Adaptability:

Your ability to be relentlessly consistent over the long-haul depends upon your ability to be adaptable day-to-day. This doesn't mean go wherever the wind takes you. But it does mean that you can't be rigid.

Life happens. Strength without flexibility is rigidity. Flexibility without strength is instability.

Excellence isn’t a strict formula, it’s a dynamic practice. It’s not about choosing one trait over another, but about learning how to hold opposites, and knowing when to lean into each. The people who go far are working hard and they’re working wisely. They’re consistent and they’re adaptable. They’re driven and they’re deeply grounded.

The path to excellence is rarely straight, but if you can navigate its paradoxes with awareness and intention, you’ll find lasting growth.