The Art of Not Being Stupid

We love perfection. The flawless pitch, the heroic workout, the dazzling moment when everything clicks. It feels amazing—like standing on top of the world. But here’s the catch: perfection is a one-night stand. It’s thrilling, but it doesn’t stick around. What actually moves the needle in life, business, or fitness isn’t perfection. It’s something far less glamorous but infinitely more powerful: the ability to consistently not be stupid.

Sure, hitting perfection once in a while feels intoxicating. You push hard, deliver something extraordinary, and bask in the glow. But perfection is a sprinter—it burns energy fast, drains focus, and leaves you exhausted. And when you’re exhausted, you’re out of the game. Success doesn’t belong to the occasional peak performer. It belongs to the steady player who stays in the arena long enough for effort to compound.

Consistency isn’t flashy. It’s showing up when you’d rather stay in bed. It’s doing the small things right, over and over again. It’s choosing progress over drama, discipline over intensity, sustainability over burnout. It means avoiding wipeout so you don’t need weeks to recover, staying in the game even at 70% effort because forward is still forward, and compounding tiny wins that snowball into exponential growth. Think of it like investing: a single jackpot is nice, but real wealth comes from steady contributions over time. Performance works the same way.

“Not being stupid” doesn’t mean playing small. It means dodging the obvious traps that knock you out of the game—overtraining until injury, overworking until burnout, overcommitting until collapse. The biggest threat to success isn’t failing once; it’s failing so catastrophically you can’t continue. The smartest performers aren’t the ones who go all in for short bursts. They’re the ones who pace themselves, avoid wipeout, and keep showing up.

The most important skill isn’t brilliance—it’s endurance. Not just physical endurance, but existential endurance: the ability to keep showing up, keep choosing, keep moving forward. Occasional perfection is a highlight reel. Consistency is the career. And careers—whether in sport, business, or life—are built by those who refuse to be stupid, who pace themselves, and who keep the fire alive.

So don’t chase perfection—chase progress. avoid wipeout, and stay in the game. Because in the end, the winners aren’t the ones who burned brightest for a moment—they’re the ones who kept the flame alive long enough to light the way forward.

Until next time

Scott and Lennart