Stamina Is a Quiet Advantage

Stamina vs. Stimulants and Pleasure

• Several comments distinguish “true” stamina from drug-fueled productivity; heavy use of caffeine and nootropics is described as compensating for a lack of stamina, not evidence of it.
• One view: stimulants mainly increase pleasure and make tasks tolerable; real stamina is enduring lack of pleasure in pursuit of something good.
• Counterpoint: framing pleasure vs. the good as opposites is misleading; when work is genuinely “good,” it’s often naturally rewarding, and chemicals may be filling a gap where the work itself is not.

Focus, Distraction, and Motivation

• Stamina is linked to saying “no” to distractions and competing opportunities; focus is framed as a quiet superpower.
• Simple models are proposed: e.g., Focus = Energy – Distraction; Success = Focus × Time, plus a “luck” term some argue is crucial but uncontrollable.
• Another model (from procrastination research) treats motivation as expectancy × value divided by impulsiveness × delay.
• Debate over tactics: some emphasize tiny habits and making tasks easy; others say small habits never stick and they need big, intense commitments.

Persistence, Stubbornness, and Being Right

• Many agree persistence often beats raw intelligence: just staying with hard problems can be transformative for careers.
• Others stress persistence is a double-edged sword: stubbornness plus being wrong leads to wasted lives and forgotten scientists; sunk-cost fallacy is a real risk.

The Hidden Cost of Extreme Stamina

• Multiple intense personal stories describe working or caregiving at “110%” for years (degrees while working full-time, major illness, NICU babies, big projects during personal crises).
• After such periods, people report a lasting change: difficulty feeling joy, loss of “inner reserve,” emotional numbness, or reduced will to push hard again.
• Some attribute this to burnout-like processes and chronic compartmentalization of feelings; therapy and time help but don’t fully restore the old self.
• There’s debate whether this is mostly aging, cumulative trauma, or a one-time depletion of some non-renewable inner resource.

Where and When to Spend Stamina

• Several comments emphasize that stamina only helps if the goal is well-chosen (career moves, equity in startups, relationships, academic paths).
• Advice: save maximal effort for situations where you share in the upside (e.g., good founding roles) and avoid burning out for low-ownership, dysfunctional environments.

Culture, Interest, and Built Stamina

• Observations from Asia highlight cultural norms of “eating bitterness” and extreme study schedules as examples of socially reinforced stamina.
• Commenters note their own capacity varies dramatically with interest: they can work endlessly on engaging tasks but “chew glass” on others.

Skepticism and Limits

• Some argue habits outperform raw stamina over the long term.
• A minority is strongly skeptical of stamina/self-help narratives, noting that for some skills, thousands of hours don’t yield improvement, so “just persist” advice can mislead or blame the strugglers.