Embrace Intensity

Endurance should be our default, but we still need to embrace intensity.

Image by Jack Butcher

The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long.

Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu’s quote implies that intensity isn’t the right approach because intensity lacks longevity.

In many ways, Tzu is making an excellent point: endurance is more important than intensity. It’s often the slow, steady, and relentless efforts over a long period of time that bring us the most rewarding results.

All things equal, the person with more endurance will get better results than the person with more intensity.

However, this doesn’t mean intensity should be avoided or overlooked.

Ramping Up Intensity

Many worthwhile pursuits are best accomplished through intensity instead of endurance. When pursuits are constrained by time, we need to ratchet up our intensity to accomplish what’s required before it’s too late.

The required type of effort changes depending on what we want to accomplish. If we need to boil water, then a candle that burns twice as bright is exactly what we need, even if it only burns half as long.

Intensity is only detrimental when we attempt to stretch it beyond our capacity.

Burnout, overtraining, and anxiety are all symptoms of sustaining intensity beyond our capacity.

If we’re going to be doing something intense, we cannot and should not do it for very long. The longer we extend bouts of intensity, the more likely our efforts will backfire.

Balancing Intensity & Endurance

As a high-level strategy and general guidance, Tzu was right to suggest that slow and steady wins the race. A foundation of endurance, patience, and persistence will always be the path to meaningful progress.

This will result in better results and a better quality of life than constant intensity. Burning twice as bright is valuable and powerful, but only for short bursts, not sustained efforts.

An intentional combination of endurance and intensity unlocks the ability to go farther faster than relying on only one strategy or the other.

Generally speaking, we should always be indexing towards a slow and steady approach to avoid burnout and constantly chip away slowly but steadily on the things that are important to us.

However, when the situation presents itself, we must be willing and able to ramp up our efforts dramatically to match our intensity of effort with the intensity of the challenge in front of us. Just as importantly, we must be able to ramp that energy back down to preserve ourselves for the long haul.

Endurance should be our way of life, but intentional bursts of intensity can be our superpower.

Prompts

1. What is your default effort level? Slow and steady or intense?

2. What pursuits or challenges in your life right now require intensity instead of persistence?

3. In what ways can you adjust your approach to the most important pursuits in your life to optimize for endurance and avoid sustained bouts of intensity?

Deep Dive

• Peak Performance by Brad Stulberg & Steve Magness

  • A practical blueprint for balancing stress and rest.

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Thanks for reading! I’ll see you next Sunday.

Kevin