Who: Brad Stulberg

Claim To Fame:  Brad Stulberg is a health care consultant turned writer specializing in the science backed principles of health, wellbeing, and mastery that transcend capabilities and domains. He is the author of The Passion Paradox: A Guide to Going All In, Finding Success, and Discovering the Benefits of an Unbalanced Life and Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, And Thrive with the New Science of Success. Brad also writes the popular “Do It Better” column for Outside Magazine and have written for the New York Times, Wired, New York Magazine, NPR, Sports Illustrated, and more.

Where To Find Brad: His Website, Amazon, Twitter

Praise For Brad: “Brad Stulberg is one of my favorite writers about two of my favorite topics: physical and mental performance. This book brings them together.” ― Ryan Holiday, bestselling author of Stillness is the Key, The Obstacle is the Way, and Ego is the Enemy

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When and where do you like to write? Are you the same-thing-every-day kind of writer or can you write anytime, anywhere?

I’m a bit of a hybrid, I guess. My daily structure is to write from 3:30-6 PM at a local café, and then edit from 6:30-8:00 AM the next morning. I try to adhere to this regardless of what I’m working on, be it a book, essay, column, or newsletter. If I’m more or less always writing and editing in those windows, there’s a nice momentum and inertia to it.

There are also times when I get an idea that I can’t get out of my head, so I just sit down and write. For example, I recently had an idea for an essay with the New York Times that, once I got the greenlight from my editor, I just sat down and started writing—and literally wrote on and off all day, from 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM. By the end of the day, a solid draft was done, which I edited the next morning. These spurts are few and far between—definitely the exception to the rule. But when I catch one I try not to waste it.

Do you have any pre-writing rituals or habits before you sit down to write?

I tend to write much better if I’ve exercised earlier in the day and if I’ve got a coffee and a snack in tow. I view having a physical practice as a huge part of my job.

Do you struggle at all with that dreaded enemy of writing: writer’s block? Do you think such a thing exists?

I don’t think writer’s block exists as much as not showing up and getting started block. I experience the latter all the time. It’s a resistance to sitting down and getting started. This is often made worse by all the other things I could be doing that, in theory, help my career as a writer (e.g., social media, answering emails, browsing the internet).

I’ve learned the best thing to do in these situations is identify what is going on; name it; and then ignore it. Show up. Butt in chair. Coffee in hand. Write. You don’t have to feel good to get started. Mood follows action, not the other way around.

Writers have to be master prioritizers — juggling all sorts of projects and deadlines at the same time. That’s certainly the case for you. Do you have any methods for managing tasks and time so to not let overwhelm sneak in?

Nothing fancy. I try to protect that 3:30-6 PM window every day to write. I find that if I can get 2 or more solid hours of undistracted writing time in every day, that’s plenty. I’m usually excited to edit in the early morning. (I actually prefer editing my work to writing it.)

Then, as mentioned above, on the rare occasions when I do hit a complete rhythm and groove, I give myself permission to cancel pretty much anything to follow that groove. This hasn’t been problematic since these grooves don’t happen more than a few times per year.

Deciding on an idea to pursue writing about can be the most challenging aspect for a writer. How do you come to find the stories and lives that become the subjects of your books?

I carry a small notebook with me pretty much everywhere I go. When I get an idea, I jot it down. If it still excites me the next morning, then I test it with my wife, friends, an editor, etc. If it’s got legs outside of my own head, I write. The day between is important. It’s crazy how many manic moments of “this is the going to be a great book” no longer look so great the next morning.

I also often test ideas that I think could be book-worthy in essays or columns. It’s really helpful to transition from this is how I see something to this is the conversation I’m having with a reader about it.

There are some ideas that I want to explore on the page so badly for myself that I don’t really care what anyone else says or thinks. So I just write. Some of my best and most popular stories have manifested this way. (But so have some of my worst, I guess that’s just how it goes.)

On idea generation itself (and this is something I’ve written quite a bit about), I never try to force ideas. I let them come. There’s all kinds of research showing that creative ideas tend not to come when you are actively thinking about the work but rather during breaks (e.g., exercise, showering, walking, reading, etc.)

In addition to your books, you are a regular columnist for Outside Magazine, and have written for a wide-range of outlets like the New York Times, Wired, and NPR. Do you find that your routine and process differs between your short-form work versus your longer form books? What about between the different outlets?

Nope. It’s pretty similar across the board. Again, it’s amazing how much I can get done if I’m serious about protecting three main things

[*] My morning editing block.

[*] My 90 minutes or so of physical practice

[*] My afternoon writing block

I will say that I struggle to work on two projects during the same day. So, for example, during book writing season I’ll cut down on essays, columns, and other work—maybe I’ll do one day per week for that stuff, and then shift the rest of my time and energy to the book. In practice, it’s a bit more dynamic than that, but in theory, that’s what I shoot for. My brain is really good at locking onto something and pursuing it. It’s not as good at holding multiple things at once.

All of your work is intensely and meticulously researched. What is your process for collecting and organizing material you might want to use in your writing?

I read a ton of books. For me, books are still the main source of knowledge. Most everything on the internet is just a watered-down version of what has been written about in a book. When I read, I’ll use upside-down sticky notes to mark key ideas and passages. This way, when I revisit them for a writing project, I’ll not only have the idea/passage, but I’ll also know exactly where to find the greater context.

As for organization of scientific research, I’m super low-tech. For essays, columns, and my newsletter, I use Gmail! I have different “draft” emails for my works in progress, into which I throw all my research (and links to studies published on the internet.)

For books, I create outlines in a word document into which I dump all my research, reporting, and passages and information from books.

Given all of your research and writing on peak performance, sustained success, and avoiding burnout—what principles, practices, and habits would you recommend aspiring writers follow and implement?

Stress + Rest = Growth. Too much of the former you get injury, illness, and burnout. Too much of the latter you get complacency and stagnation. This is every bit as true for writing as it is for running or lifting weights.

Mood follows action. Don’t wait to be super motivated to get going. Get going consistently and then you’ll become super motivated. Show up and get started, even when you don’t want to.

Control your passion so it doesn’t control you. There’s a big difference between loving the process of writing and loving the external validation you get from your work. The former is a path to long-term fulfillment. The latter is a path to anxiety and burnout. After any big success or failure, I give myself 24 to 48 hours to celebrate the win or grieve the defeat, but then I force myself to get back to doing the work itself. The more I focus on the work itself the less I get sucked into the emotional roller-costars of stressing about results. It’s amazing how little you think about checking Twitter or the sales of your book when you are actually writing.

Don’t strive for balance; think boundaries instead. Balance is an illusion for the passionate person. It’s okay to get swept up in an idea and to pursue it all-in. Just be aware of what you are sacrificing as a result, and set hard and rigid boundaries that align with your core values. For me, this means leaving the café at 6 PM so I can be with my family. Do I give myself permission to break that boundary from time to time? Yes. Do I ensure my wife calls me out if from time to time becomes once a week, also yes.

Develop a Consistent Routine. All the research shows that routines are super helpful. But it also shows that there are no routines that work for everyone. Regardless of what the bro-science hackers tell you, there is no special tea or coffee or journal or soundtrack or app or time of day to write. You’ve got to find out what works for you and then stick to that.

What books or writers have most influenced the way you think and the way you write?

I feel it’s really important to spend some time and space here since the following writers and books have really shaped me. Their imprint is all over my work. I’m so grateful to and for all of them.

George Leonard (Mastery and The Way of Aikido)

Robert Pirsig (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Lila)

Erich Fromm (To Have or To Be? and The Art of Loving)

Tara Brach (Radical Acceptance)

Anne Lamott (Notes on Hope, Hallelujah Anyway, and Stiches)

Jon Kabat-Zinn (Full Catastrophe Living and Wherever You Go There You Are)

Herman Hesse (The Glass Bead Game, Siddhartha, and Narcissus and Goldmund)

David Whyte (Consolations, Crossing the Unknown Sea, and The Three Marriages)

Thich Naht Hanh (The Art of Living, Anger, Fear and The Art of Power)

Krista Tippett (Becoming Wise, and everything the On Being Project does).

And then my favorite classic novels, Middlemarch and War and Peace. 

I also feel super fortunate to surround myself with colleagues who are creating complementary work. I love to bat ideas around with folks like Ryan Holiday, David Epstein, Christie Aschwanden, Alex Hutchinson, Cindy Lamothe, Adam Grant, Dan Pink, Mike Joyner, Adam Alter, Shalane Flanagan, and Emily Esfahani Smith.

And of course, my collaborative partner (and co-author on two books) Steve Magness.

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