The Stairway to Wisdom
The Stairway to Wisdom
The Stairway to Wisdom is a living document of becoming — raw, reflective and grounded in one question I have never been able to put down: how do you pursue greatness without losing your humanity?
I set out to become an unbreakable hockey player. What actually broke open was something else: the realisation that ambition without a centre of gravity doesn't make you stronger, it makes you smaller — smaller in your body, in your relationships, in the way you look at yourself. Injury, disappointment, a breakdown, the period I now call The Septic Tank, and long conversations with the coaches who kept me in the conversation taught me that the mind is not something you force. It is something you build.
This podcast is the building. Each episode is one step on the stairway: a principle from the 49 that run through my two books, The Magical Mindset and The (UN)BREAKABLE Mindset — ambition and intention, ego and ownership, vulnerability and recovery, identity and the roles we perform, gratitude, love, and the discipline of asking better questions.
Along the way I bring in the people and ideas that shaped me: philosophy and sport psychology, the monastery, a ninety-year-old former cyclist who taught me what "I can't" really means, and the relentless voices who never let comfort be the answer.
Not theory for its own sake. Every step ends with a question you have to answer for yourself, in your own time, privately. Because wisdom isn't a destination you arrive at. It is a way of climbing.
Greatness with a heart. Rise without losing yourself.
Welcome to The Stairway to Wisdom.
The Stairway to Wisdom
78. #1 Winning is selfish. Tim S. Grover about W1inning; The unforgiving race to greatness.
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Selfish losers take. Selfish winners build themselves so they can give. Prioritize your goals, protect your focus, create your wins — and let those wins create value for the people around you.
- There is a difference between selfish losers and selfish winners.
- Selfish losers take from others without creating value. Ze prioriteren zichzelf ten koste van hun team, bedrijf of familie en geven vervolgens anderen de schuld wanneer het misgaat.
- Selfish winners invest in themselves so they can ultimately give more to others.
- Ze geven zichzelf confidence, courage, clarity, time, space, focus and freedom to win.
- Putting yourself first is not automatically selfish in a negative sense. Het gaat erom waarom je jezelf prioriteit geeft en wat je vervolgens met die positie doet.
- Your success should create value beyond yourself. Hoe sterker en succesvoller je wordt, hoe meer je uiteindelijk kunt betekenen voor je team, familie, bedrijf of andere mensen.
- Unusual priorities create resistance. Zolang je doet wat als “normaal” wordt gezien, accepteert bijna iedereen het. Zodra je uitzonderlijke keuzes maakt die anderen niet begrijpen, wordt het sneller als egoïstisch bestempeld.
- You cannot help everyone else before you can help yourself.
- You cannot create your own wins without prioritizing your own goals and dreams.
- Daarom zijn een sterke NO-list en IDGAF muscle belangrijk: niet iedere verwachting, mening, uitnodiging of afleiding verdient toegang tot je tijd en energie.
- The principle: Prioritize yourself not to take from others, but to become capable of giving more.