[chuankl]

> Bingo. Nobody who ever won a Nobel Prize, competed in the Olympics, or, in Joseph's Heller's case, wrote several novels that each took years to complete ever got up in the morning and said "I've done enough."

I am sure that is true. That said, whether such a person lives a satisfying life depends on the motivation behind such a drive.

Do you pursue your research, your sports training, and your writing because of your love of the process and the activity itself? If so, you are doing great.

Do you pursue your research, your sports training, and your writing because you are "climbing the ladder" toward a Nobel Prize, an Olympic medal, or the status of a famous writer? If so, you are probably going to have a bad time.

The message I took from the book is not "don't excel" or "don't put your heart into things". Rather it is that excelling at something and putting your heart into something should be a conscious decision on your part, instead of a default response (e.g., mindlessly climbing the corporate ladder) because that is what everyone seems to be doing.