051 - Does Being a Good Person Make You a Worse Competitor?

Steve, Brad, and Clay discuss a question posed by the writer and runner Sabrina Little in a recent article (link below) from Aeon titled "Performance-Enhancing Vices:" How do the personality traits that make for better competitors impact moral character? Is it possible that things like envy, selfishness, and pride—traits we'd likely label as "vices"—make us more competitive? Does good character hurt our performance? Using contemporary examples and drawing on their own experiences coaching, competing, and working with elite athletes, the guys explore the relationship between athletic performance and moral character. When does selfishness help and when does it hurt? Do you have to singularly obsessed to be great? How should we think about balancing life with ambitious goals?

"Performance-Enhancing Vices" by Sabrina Little (Aeon):

https://aeon.co/essays/does-it-take-a-bad-person-to-be-a-good-athlete

If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!

• iTunes and Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• Android
• Stitcher

Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email [email protected] or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.