The Pursuit of Excellence: The Uncommon Behaviors of the World's Most Productive Achievers

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THE CONFIDENCE FLEX

A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.

—LAWRENCE PEARSALL JACKS

Every Sunday morning, I go to a park near my home about 30 minutes prior to sunrise. My purpose is to move my body, and it happens in a very specific order: I run, sprint, and walk. I start with a roughly one-mile run around the loop of the park. Following that, I go onto the grassy field and run a series of 110-yard ...