Pursue Excellence, Success Will Follow

This post originally appeared in my weekly newsletter, BL&T (Borrowed, Learned, & Thought). Subscribe

Borrowed & Learned

I’ve been reading Let Your Mind Run, the memoir of renowned distance runner Deena Kastor. She was a star runner in high school, but after college, the pressure she put on herself nearly led her to quit, going all out in every race, not to win, but to avoid losing. She found legendary coach Joe Vigil, who taught her that getting in the miles was only one part of the equation. If she could train her mind to be more positive and resilient, she could go farther than she ever thought possible.

The book follows her journey of shifting her mindset and how that shift helped her break records and eventually earn an Olympic medal.

On Thursday morning, while out on a run, I listened to Chapter 5, where she talks about the beginning of this mindset shift and Coach Vigil’s perspective on success:

“Coach talked about delayed gratification, the timing of our desires. ‘Don’t think of the reward,’ he said, ‘when there is still so much ground to cover.’ At the core of many of his stories was a distinction between success and excellence. Success was having: money, awards, status. Excellence was being — living your values, letting them guide your daily life. ‘Pursue excellence,’ Coach would say, ‘and success will follow.’”

It reminded me of a conversation I had just the day before in a one-on-one with David, our new Growth and Partnerships Manager. Much like my early days at Barrel, David joined a few weeks ago and hit the ground running. Everything is moving fast, and he’s learning a ton along the way.

It’s been a slow start to the quarter in terms of signing deals, but luckily, we started seeing momentum pick up toward the end of last week. At the time of our one-on-one, though, we were still waiting to hear back on several deals. We talked about the importance of not getting caught up chasing goals and instead, at the end of each day, asking:

Did I give it my all today?
Am I taking the actions that will move me forward?
What am I putting off or overlooking that could make a real difference?

In essence, focusing on the right actions each day, not the distant outcome. Without that, success is nothing more than luck.

This mindset has served me well in all aspects of life. When I found out I would be transitioning into the CEO role years before it happened, I didn't obsess over whether I would be ready. I focused on what I needed to learn and take on each day to be prepared when the time came.

When I set out to run a marathon, I often visualized crossing the finish line, but each week, my focus was on stacking miles, immersing myself in running books and podcasts, and falling in love with the process.

Setting big goals matters. They give us direction. But focus too much on them, and the process can feel daunting, and it is easy to lose hope when progress is not immediate.

Figuring out the right actions is often the most challenging part and usually takes some recalibration along the way. But consistently taking those actions is the real win.

And if we keep at it, we often find ourselves achieving more than we ever imagined.