Welcome to the Daily Quote, the podcast designed to kickstart your day in a positive way. I'm your host, Andrew McGivern, and this episode is brought to you by the Great News podcast. Because great news should be heard, and the link is right here in the show notes.
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Before we get to today's quote, here's a little background on the author. Paul Graham is an English-American computer scientist, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and essayist. He co-founded the software company Viaweb, which was acquired by Yahoo, and later co-founded Y Combinator, one of the world's most influential startup accelerators. Graham is also widely known for his essays on startups, technology, creativity, and problem-solving.
Today's quote comes from Paul Graham's 2024 essay, ”The Right Kind of Stubborn”:
”The persistent are attached to the goal. The obstinate are attached to their ideas about how to reach it.”
There's a subtle but incredibly important difference between persistence and stubbornness.
If you're persistent, you're committed to the destination—but you're willing to change the route.
You might try one strategy.
It doesn't work.
So you try another.
You listen to feedback.
You learn from failure.
And you adjust your approach.
But if you're obstinate, you can become so attached to your original idea that changing course feels like giving up.
And that's where stubbornness can become a problem.
Think about a goal you're pursuing right now.
Maybe you want to build a business.
Improve your health.
Change careers.
Write a book.
Or accomplish something you've been working toward for years.
The question isn't simply, ”Am I willing to keep going?”
It's also, ”Am I willing to change how I get there?”
Because sometimes the path that gets you to your goal looks completely different from the path you imagined when you started.
Persistence says, ”I'll figure it out.”
Obstinacy says, ”It has to happen this way.”
So here's the question: What goal are you committed to—and what approach might you need to let go of in order to achieve it?
Remember, don't be so attached to the method that you lose sight of the mission.
Be persistent about the destination.
Be flexible about the route.
That's going to do it for today. I'm Andrew McGivern signing off for now, but I'll be back… tomorrow! Same pod time, same pod station with another Daily Quote.
