Better Isn't Always Better
Better Isn’t Always Better
Courtney Dauwalter is the undisputed GOAT of ultrarunning, male or female. Her resume is legendary, and she cemented her status by winning the sport’s "Triple Crown"—the Western States 100, the Hardrock 100, and the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB)—all within a single ten-week span. She didn't just win them; she smashed course records along the way, winning races outright against the entire men's field.
And yet, she breaks almost every conventional rule of elite sports. She doesn’t count calories, she doesn’t use a rigid training plan, and she famously fuels her 100-mile races on candy, nachos, and beer.
On the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan Holiday asked her if adding a layer of strict discipline to her diet and lifestyle might help her achieve even more. Her response was this:
“I thought about it. Should I restrict the things I eat or how many beers I drink or whatever? But for me, the thing I'm against is losing the enjoyment of life and the enjoyment of daily things."
How am I spending my hours? I think that I get more benefit personally from just enjoying life than I do from counting how many grams of whatever. I'm sure there's a lot of people who could tell me all the things that could change about my diet, and maybe it would have some payoff, but I think I would lose all this joy for the sport and the race.
I want to create memories with people, and those shared moments are what I'll take with me for the rest of my life. The factor of joy that I experience in my life is weighed way higher than trying to cut 20 minutes off a race time.”
Some might listen to that and think she simply values a healthy life balance. But there’s more to it: Courtney understands tradeoffs.
Yes, she could look for all the marginal gains—the 1% optimization tricks to "better" her performance. And while counting every gram of carbohydrates might make her a fraction faster on paper, she isn't willing to risk losing her joy. She recognizes that without joy, she might actually perform worse. And even if she did get faster, she knows that better isn’t always better.
As Matthew 16:26 challenges us: "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”
I love the process of improvement. Whether it’s fitness, sleep, parenting, writing books, or coaching leaders, I am always researching best practices and looking for areas of improvement. And yet, I’ve recently become aware of how the constant choice for "better" has started to steal my own joy.
I skip the morning coffee with my wife to squeeze in an extra fifteen minutes of writing. I rush through bedtime cuddles with my kids to finish up "just one last thing." I work until the final possible minute of the day instead of shutting the laptop early to go play outside.
These are the tiny, optimized tradeoffs that silently erode my. I give up a piece of our soul for a fraction of a percentage point in productivity.
What tradeoffs are you making today that are quietly stealing your joy?
—J.P. Nerbun
*Struggling to find joy in the pursuit of excellence? My new book, The Culture Captain, will be available June 9th. This is the playbook to help you get clarity as a leader, define success on your own terms, and start living your values.
