I loved this super-short The Daily Stoic podcast episode by Ryan Holiday. He elaborates on an aspect that most people won’t agree with, particularly those who haven’t achieved much success or are still dilly-dallying with “stuff they want to do.”
It’s something I’ve observed among the senior-most leaders and C-level executives having worked with them for the past so many years. They don’t care about the small stuff that most of the other folks waste a majority of their waking hours on. Critics, money, results, what others might think of them or say about them matters so little compared to what they are doing or want to achieve. Either for themselves or a cause that’s bigger than them.
Fundamentally, the better you get, the more time you want to put into your craft and think about your choices, work, judgment, and legacy. Everything else, like the external achievements, fame, or fortune matters far less than how they do things that will get them closer to their goals or perfecting their craft.
As Marcus Aurelius says, “real mastery comes only by tying it to your actions.”