How to burn bright and long

Almost anyone can burn bright for a few days. But few can burn bright for years upon years, navigating change, uncertainty, and all kinds of weather.

Here are 8 highlights about persistence over the long haul from the book Master of Change.

1. You've got to put yourself out there. You can't be the person who comes off as too cool to care but is actually just afraid.

Caring deeply makes you vulnerable. Why? Because there's a good chance things don't go exactly your way, and eventually, everything changes.

But caring deeply is also key to a rich life.

2. Wherever you are, the goal post is always 10 yards down the field.

If you develop a mindset, "If I just do this, or just accomplish that, THEN I'll arrive," you're in for trouble.

There is no arriving. The human brain didn't evolve for it. Enjoy the process. Dig where your feet are.

3. Everyone wants to be SUCCESSFUL. But few people take the time and energy to define the success they want.

As a result, they spend most, if not all, of their lives chasing what society superimposes on them as success.

Define your values. Craft a life around them. THAT is success.

4. Ruggedness + flexibility = persistEnce. 

•To be rugged is to be tough, determined and durable.

•To be flexible is to adapt and bend easily without breaking.

Put these qualities together and the result is rugged flexibility: a gritty endurance and anti-fragility over time.

5. Surround yourself wisely.

The people with whom you surround yourself shape you. We are all mirrors reflecting onto one another. Ancient wisdom traditions point toward this. The latest research points toward this.

We think too much about individuals, not enough about communities.

6. Marry self-discipline with self-compassion.

If you are a hard-charging, Type-A "pusher," that's great! But you better work on being kind to yourself too. It is hard to be a human.

It is hard to care deeply. You've got to learn to love yourself and create space for your pain.

7. Expectations matter.

If you're running a 5k and expect it to feel easy at mile 3, you're in for a rude awakening. If you expect it to feel awful, you’ll be prepared to grind; perhaps on a good day you’ll even be pleasantly surprised.

This is true for all hard things.

8. Don't forget to experience joy.

This sounds self-evident, but it's not. The risk of being super focused on progress and growth is that you get so caught up in where you are going you forget to relish moments along the way. 

As Robert Pirsig wrote, there is no Zen on mountain tops. The only Zen is the Zen you bring up there.