What exactly is the “good stuff” that journalist Jim VandeHei—cofounder of the media startups Politico and Axios—is writing about in “Just the Good Stuff”? About what you’d expect: family, work, health, life. VandeHei is convinced that all of it is in reach for everyone:
It is nonsense that to shine, you need to go to a fancy school, bootlick bosses or pay your dues at crappy jobs working for bad people to rise in life. You do not need to get 1500 on your SATs or have a sky-high IQ or family connections. You don’t even need sparkling talents.
You simply need to want to construct goodness and greatness with whatever life throws at you. This starts by grounding yourself with unbreakable core values and watching, learning and copying those who do it—and get it—right. But also by watching and studying those who screw it up.
You need to find your passions, picked by you, not imposed by others. Then outwork everyone in pursuit of shaping your destiny—your own personal greatness—on your terms, by your own measures, at your pace.
This applies to every aspect of life—your work, your health, your family, your relationships, your faith, your hobbies. They all intertwine to make you you. You need to map out what matters most—then throw yourself into turning wishes into reality, methodically.
You control so much more than you think. But so many often mindlessly bob along life’s current. Don’t.
