“Reward the Effort, Not the Result": A Bestselling Author Defines Excellence

By Mirai Abe | February 10, 2026

Brad Stulberg (left) and Vice President of Student Affairs & Enrollment Michael Christakis (right) at a talk held at the Campus Center Ballroom at the University at Albany. Photo Credit: Mirai Abe / The ASP

What defines excellence? When pressure to succeed follows you at every stage of your life — in school, the job market, the workplace and personal life — excellence feels synonymous with outcomes. In contrast to the common perception, constantly striving to achieve something does not make you content and fulfilled, but the effort and who you become along the way are what matter, a bestselling author says.  

Brad Stulberg, a bestselling author, consultant, performance coach and podcaster, discussed excellence at the University at Albany last Tuesday (2/3), following the publication of his new book The Way of Excellence.  

“You’ve got to acknowledge that all the satisfaction and the fulfillment comes not on the top of the mountain, but comes on the sides. What makes people whole is the process of striving for that,” Stulberg said, reflecting on his experience of becoming a bestselling author that he thought would make him content and whole, but didn’t.  

It’s easy to feel tempted to “win” as if everything were a competition, at the cost of happiness. But Stulberg believes a win should not be measured by outcomes. 

“The best way to win is actually release from obsessing about the outcome and to focus on the process you need to execute to get there,” Stulberg said.

Stulberg emphasizes that outcomes do matter, saying that “process over outcomes” is a “big problem.” He added, “The way you’re going to get the outcomes the way you want and the way that you are going to enjoy the pursuit is by focusing on the process.”

Stulberg also discussed burnout, which is a common experience among college students.

Burnout has two types, conventional and zombie, according to Stulberg. When people are conventionally burnt out, they are working too many hours, whereas zombie burnout happens when they are working on something that they barely care about and it bores them. 

Having the mattering mindset and striving for something that aligns with your values helps you overcome burnout and thrive, Stulberg says. 

Two key ideas of excellence are mastering and mattering. Developing and refining your skill set —​​ as a gardener, physician or writer —​​ is mastering, while mattering is caring about what you do and finding values in it. 

“If you are pursuing mastery in something that aligns with your values,” Stulberg said, “You also get this sense of matter…that what you are doing is important.”

Stulberg also shared his views on balance. He said making trade-offs is more meaningful and effective than maintaining balance, because trying to be perfect in every role or task won’t allow you to give your all to the things that you actually care about.

“The meaningful things tend to be slower. They tend to be bigger projects where there’s not as much of a type of ward loop,” Stulberg said, comparing writing a book — which he finds hard and tedious — to the book’s Instagram promotion that feels more instantly rewarding. “And if you are just playing whack-a-mole with these little intrusions, you are never gonna get to the big reward loop.” 

“You’ve got to care about something, and you have to involve yourself with it," Stulberg said. “You need to know what your values are in how you want to spend your time and energy, who you want to become as a person."

Keith Nuñez said he attended Stulberg’s book talk because he works with college students and has been working on building his personal path. 

“‘Rewarding effort, not the result’ stuck out to me,” he said. “As a college counselor, I try to always do that for my students. They strive for these huge goals. They don’t always make it, but I always like to give them love for trying.”

“College is a very important four years of your life, and it can’t be just about school,” he added. “I think it needs to be about you.”