The Difference Between Working Hard and Getting Better Big Think

What does it actually take to go from good to great at work — and is "mastery" even the right word for it? In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from The Big Think's collection of articles on mastery, and make it feel a lot more relevant to everyday squiggly careers than the word itself might suggest. They explore two big ideas: how to master your response to tricky situations (think: the passive aggressive Canva comment, the "I'll just do it" default, or the unexpected tears in a meeting), and how to master your ability to succeed — including how elite athletes think about risk and failure in a way that's surprisingly useful for anyone with an ambitious goal. 🎯 What You'll Learn How to move from a default response to a deliberate decision — and why that space in between is everything– What elite athletes do differently when things go wrong (and how to apply it to your own goals)– Why naming your version of success — and stress-testing the risks — makes you more likely to actually get there– How to reframe failure as a data point rather than a verdict on you 📚 Resources Mentioned The Big Think newsletter The Big Think — Mastery collection For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com Need some more squiggly career support? 1. Download our free career tools 2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints 3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The Difference Between Working Hard and Getting Better Big Think is an episode from Amazing If: Squiggly Careers by .

This episode is 32:13 long.

This episode was published on Apr 13, 2026.

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