Podcast: The Downsides of Freedom
David Epstein on how to use constraints to improve everything: your health, mindset, productivity, and creativity.
We all want freedom. FFS, freedom is one of the founding ideas of democracy.
But too much freedom might be a bad thing. Constraints—limits, rules, boundaries—don’t block breakthroughs. They actually produce them.
We can use constraints to improve our work, health, relationships, and so much more—leading to better productivity, wellness, and creativity.
That’s what today’s guest argues—and he’s got receipts.
I’m speaking with David Epstein. David is the bestselling author of Range and The Sports Gene, and his new book is Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better.
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Topics include:
Why the most innovative (and well funded) company you’ve never heard of, called General Magic, blew up under unlimited creative freedom, while Pixar took freedom away from its workers and dominated.
A simple question to ask yourself before making a health change.
How adding new constraints to health workouts killed years of breakthroughs—and why that’s actually a good thing.
David’s research on managers—should we love them or hate them? (And what to do if you’re the manager).
A Post-It note system for putting constraints on any project—from work goals to health goals—to get a better outcome.
The downsides of getting too rich, and what to do if you have too many resources.
A simple constraint that helped David exercise every morning for two years straight.
The “think slow, work fast” rule for businesses.
The framework David uses to make health decisions when the research isn’t settled.
The Sports Gene and what it can tell us about performance.
Why early sports specialization backfires for kids. (Hint: Don’t sign your kids up for travel baseball and soccer at the expense of other sports.)
Show notes
David Epstein’s Substack Range Widely
David’s new book — Inside the Box: How Constraints Make us Better
David’s second book — Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
David’s first book — The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance
Study: Vacation, Collective Restoration, and Mental Health in a Population (how vacation impacts SSRI use)
Study: Is everything we eat associated with cancer? A systematic cookbook review.
David’s 2009 Sports Illustrated piece that broke the A-Rod steroid scandal.
Have fun, don’t die, get inside the box.
-Michael
Dan John and Pat Flynn have some great conversations about the benefits of constraints on Chronicles of Strength.
This podcast is great. I was a corporate lawyer in Silicon Valley for 40 years (and worked with about 400 startups). And David is absolutely correct about startups (loved the General Magic story which I watched in real time): startups need constraints (and focus) to succeed. I also liked Michael's discussion of retirement (I have been retired for three years) and it does require thought and planning to be successful. I spent two years planning and I strongly recommend the following books:
Arthur Brooks (and Oprah Winfrey): Build the Life You Want. This book is very comprehensive.
Arthur Brooks: From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life which is more focused on retirement issues; the title is an accurate summary. He uses scientific research to support his recommendations.
Bill Perkins: Die With Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life. An excellent book reframing how you should consider “timing” in your life plan. Whether or not, you choose to “die with zero”, his framing of the importance of experience in designing a great life is really fundamental, including the concept of “memory dividends”.
I enjoyed working in Silicon Valley, but I am also having a great time in retirement including travel, cycling and working as an advisor to the Angel Capital Association. You do need to plan and reset your expectations.