Absolutely! I wrote a piece on a similar subject last week about how the greatest creative achievements have come from play. From The Beatles, Tolkien, Rick Rubin talks about it a lot too. In the age of optimisation we've forgot the true essence of genius.
Hustle-porn, grindslop, grindmaxxing, hustle-culture... I've just expanded my vocabulary!
If whatever you're doing isn't fun, what's the point of doing it? There is hard work involved, but there's the joy and satisfaction of accomplishment and a job well done.
The 10,000 hour (or reps) was hammered into us in Kung Fu. However 10,000 (or whatever number) of shit reps results in shit results. Deliberate quality is key whether it's sports or writing or whatever.
Thank you for making my morning read both enjoyable and a learning experience.
This really resonates. I think we have confused discipline with suffering for far too long, as if the pain itself somehow proves the seriousness of the pursuit.
Love it. I spent decades in the car business where "grindslop," was a badge of honor. It still is. But it's a lie. It leads to health issues and in many cases, divorce. Not just from one's spouse, but from one's sense of joy and happiness. The Pike Place Fish guys of Seattle figured this out long ago. "Play" is part of their ethos.
Most people conflate hard work with suffering. You're right to separate them. But when the work is wrong for you, hard work turns into suffering — that's the part worth naming.
I lived both sides of that. Thirty years as a solution architect, and for a chunk of it I was the guy with the color-coded Gantt chart, convinced that if I just planned hard enough I could out-control the outcome. That's not discipline. That's fear wearing a suit. I eventually walked away from a client who'd grown abusive — screaming in meetings, moving goalposts without notice — because I finally understood the difference between effort and suffering. One builds you. The other just wears you down and calls it a badge.
The Ericsson point you're making — that it's not hours, it's what you do in them — maps onto something I keep coming back to: effort isn't the same as nervous output. Early in my career I thought hard work meant late nights, jaw clenched, inbox pinging like electric shocks. That wasn't excellence. That was anxiety with a to-do list. Real effort is quieter. It's presence, attention, doing the actual thing in front of you instead of performing busyness at it.
And your "fit before grit" point — that's the whole architecture. You can't grind your way into work that isn't yours. I found mine leading process mapping sessions — brown paper on the wall, Post-its, Sharpies, teams that had been butting heads for years suddenly building something together. I had genuine fun running those rooms once people realized we were making real breakthroughs through collaboration instead of combat. That fun wasn't a byproduct. It was the signal I was in the right work.
Haaland having fun while being ferocious isn't a contradiction. It's what it looks like when the fit is right and the grit still shows up anyway.
Terry Vermeylen — author of The Input Effect: Master What You Control, Maximize What You Get (Feb 2027)
Work smarter, not harder. Work on improving your best skills, and your weaknesses. And have fun along the way. Life should not be a grind every damn day.
Ericsson's own finding cuts against the "fun" framing slightly. Deliberate practice is effortful by design. Elite performers don't enjoy the reps in the moment. They tolerate them because the domain has meaning. The state where joy and intensity coexist isn't fun exactly. It's absorption. You stop noticing which one you're experiencing, and that's when the hours compound without burning you out.
An interesting movie to spark good conversation on this subject is Whiplash. Specifically, is the conductor character right in his intense approach? I'm still not sure if the movie was saying it was right or not...
Great piece, Brad.
If you're not having some fun, what's the point? Don't take it all so seriously.
Have fun, spread love, and be greater.
Absolutely! I wrote a piece on a similar subject last week about how the greatest creative achievements have come from play. From The Beatles, Tolkien, Rick Rubin talks about it a lot too. In the age of optimisation we've forgot the true essence of genius.
I’ll have to check out that piece!
Thanks, Brad. I went down a rabbit hole finding amazing examples of genius through play and serendipity. Play and trust is where great art is made. https://kierakelly.substack.com/p/what-play-knows-rick-rubin-the-beatles
Hustle-porn, grindslop, grindmaxxing, hustle-culture... I've just expanded my vocabulary!
If whatever you're doing isn't fun, what's the point of doing it? There is hard work involved, but there's the joy and satisfaction of accomplishment and a job well done.
The 10,000 hour (or reps) was hammered into us in Kung Fu. However 10,000 (or whatever number) of shit reps results in shit results. Deliberate quality is key whether it's sports or writing or whatever.
Thank you for making my morning read both enjoyable and a learning experience.
Love this comment! Thank you for being here, reading, and sharing!
This really resonates. I think we have confused discipline with suffering for far too long, as if the pain itself somehow proves the seriousness of the pursuit.
Well said.
Love it. I spent decades in the car business where "grindslop," was a badge of honor. It still is. But it's a lie. It leads to health issues and in many cases, divorce. Not just from one's spouse, but from one's sense of joy and happiness. The Pike Place Fish guys of Seattle figured this out long ago. "Play" is part of their ethos.
Thanks for sharing this, Michael. And I’m glad you found your way to a new mentality!
Great piece, Brad.
If you're not having some fun, what's the point? Don't take it all so seriously.
Have fun, spread love, and be greater.
Good little slogan right there.
Most people conflate hard work with suffering. You're right to separate them. But when the work is wrong for you, hard work turns into suffering — that's the part worth naming.
I lived both sides of that. Thirty years as a solution architect, and for a chunk of it I was the guy with the color-coded Gantt chart, convinced that if I just planned hard enough I could out-control the outcome. That's not discipline. That's fear wearing a suit. I eventually walked away from a client who'd grown abusive — screaming in meetings, moving goalposts without notice — because I finally understood the difference between effort and suffering. One builds you. The other just wears you down and calls it a badge.
The Ericsson point you're making — that it's not hours, it's what you do in them — maps onto something I keep coming back to: effort isn't the same as nervous output. Early in my career I thought hard work meant late nights, jaw clenched, inbox pinging like electric shocks. That wasn't excellence. That was anxiety with a to-do list. Real effort is quieter. It's presence, attention, doing the actual thing in front of you instead of performing busyness at it.
And your "fit before grit" point — that's the whole architecture. You can't grind your way into work that isn't yours. I found mine leading process mapping sessions — brown paper on the wall, Post-its, Sharpies, teams that had been butting heads for years suddenly building something together. I had genuine fun running those rooms once people realized we were making real breakthroughs through collaboration instead of combat. That fun wasn't a byproduct. It was the signal I was in the right work.
Haaland having fun while being ferocious isn't a contradiction. It's what it looks like when the fit is right and the grit still shows up anyway.
Terry Vermeylen — author of The Input Effect: Master What You Control, Maximize What You Get (Feb 2027)
Work smarter, not harder. Work on improving your best skills, and your weaknesses. And have fun along the way. Life should not be a grind every damn day.
Well written and very true keep up the great inspiring work Brad
Ericsson's own finding cuts against the "fun" framing slightly. Deliberate practice is effortful by design. Elite performers don't enjoy the reps in the moment. They tolerate them because the domain has meaning. The state where joy and intensity coexist isn't fun exactly. It's absorption. You stop noticing which one you're experiencing, and that's when the hours compound without burning you out.
Right. I say as much in the piece!
An interesting movie to spark good conversation on this subject is Whiplash. Specifically, is the conductor character right in his intense approach? I'm still not sure if the movie was saying it was right or not...
A great read as usual! Thanks for sharing.