Thread by @BStulberg

Go big or go home you often end up home. Go small and steady over a long period of time, and you often end up with something big.

Sustainable progress isn’t about being consistently great. It’s about being great at being consistent.

“In land of the quick fix it may seem radical, but to learn anything significant, to make any lasting change in yourself, you must be willing to spend most of your time on the plateau, to keep practicing even when it seems you are getting nowhere." —George Leonard

For most, the plateau is a form of purgatory. But to advance beyond the low-hanging fruit in any meaningful discipline—lifting weights, writing, running, meditation, training a dog, parenting, marriage; you name it—you must get comfortable spending time on the plateau.

Just like there is a richness that comes with trying something new, there is an equal richness that comes with getting deeper and deeper into something familiar.

The texture becomes more granular. The pursuit, whatever it is, becomes more a part of you, and you a part of it.

Yet sometimes stepping away makes sense.

Life is too short to punish yourself with activities and people you don't like. Grit is a great quality—until it gets in your way.

The paradox: people quit meaningful pursuits when they should hang on, and hang on when they should quit.

Mastery is wonderful and exhausting and energizing.

You stay on the path, you stay on the path, you stay on the path; until you know deep down inside it's time to get off.

Then you get off; transition to something new; take all your hard-earned wisdom with you; and go forward.