The Art of Pacing, in Sports and in Life
Whether it's in soccer, marriage, or business, this week we learned the value of finding your rhythm.
Everyone loves a good rallying cry: go all-out, go hard, go big or go home. But the best athletes know something the slogans don't: you have to save something for the second half. While this wisdom may be widespread in sports, it’s somewhat less common in business and relationships. This week, we learned that in the art of pacing can pay off in just about every aspect of your life.
Father’s Day is this Sunday! Give dad one of our best-of three-book bundles.
This Week on the Next Big Idea Podcast
Is the FIFA World Cup really worth it?
The World Cup is in full swing, and so far the mood is meh. Fans are fuming over sell-your-kidney ticket prices, frightened by reports that ICE may target matches, tailgates, and sports bars, and generally feeling down on this quadrennial celebration.
We wanted to know: Is there any joy left in this thing?
So we called up Simon Kuper. He’s a columnist at the Financial Times, “one of the best sportswriters in the English language today” (The New Yorker), and author of the Next Big Idea Club must-read World Cup Fever. He’s also attended every World Cup since 1990.
Simon tells us how the tournament bridges political divides, why suicides decline during the World Cup, whether “sportswashing” really works, and which storylines to follow, no matter if you’re a die-hard footy fan or a first-time viewer. Check out our conversation on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or watch it on YouTube.
Book Bite of the Week
What’s the future of marriage?
Marriage and gender relationships have never been fixed or “natural” in one permanent form. Throughout history, they have changed dramatically, and understanding that evolution can help us build better relationships today.
Stephanie Coontz is the director of research and public education for the Council on Contemporary Families. She has authored several books on gender, family, and history, including Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage, which was cited in the United States Supreme Court decision on marriage equality. Her new book is For Better and Worse: The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage. Check out her key insights on the Next Big Idea app.
This week’s Book of the Day sponsor is Force of Nature by Owen D. Jones, professor of law and biology at Vanderbilt University. Most of us learned about natural selection in school—and never thought about it again. Jones shows how evolutionary thinking can improve medicine, AI, economics, law, and more, drawing on surprising examples from cancer treatment to geckos to archerfish. Nature’s deepest logic, it turns out, has a lot to teach us. Praised by Steven Pinker, Robert Sapolsky, and Jerry Coyne.
This Week on the Next Big Idea Daily Podcast
What’s your hurry?
What if the real secret to thriving isn’t pushing harder—it’s learning when to push, when to ease off, and when to recover? Science writer Elizabeth Svoboda shares big ideas from her new book, The Art of Pacing: A Guide to Balancing Short-Term Demands with Long-Term Thriving, a practical antidote to the “all gas, no brakes” culture of modern work and life. Pick up a copy of her book on Amazon or listen to her big ideas on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
This edition of Book of the Day is sponsored by Fora, a travel agency platform designed for entrepreneurs who want to build and scale their own travel business. Become a Fora Advisor today at foratravel.com/idea
🎉 Happy Publication Week! 🎉
The following Next Big Idea Club Must-Read authors get to celebrate the publication of their books today--congratulations to them all! 📖 Join us in reading and discussing these exciting new releases:
Massimo Pigliucci, How to Be a (Happy) Skeptic: The Power of Doubt in a Meaningful Life--Lessons from Cicero’s Philosophy
Sarah Wilson, I Eat the Stars: How to Live Fully and Beautifully in a Collapsing World
Luke Burgis, The One and the Ninety-Nine: Forging Identity in the Age of Social Contagion
Samuel Moyn, Gerontocracy in America: How the Old Are Hoarding Power and Wealth―and What to Do About It
Elizabeth Svoboda, The Art of Pacing: A Guide to Balancing Short-Term Demands with Long-Term Thriving
Rowan Jacobsen, In Defense of Sunlight: The Surprising Science of Sun Exposure
Steve Kamb, How to Try Again: An Approachable Guide to Navigating Chaos and Making Change That Sticks
Elizabeth Dunn & Jiaying Zhao, Leave the Lights On: How Joyful Decisions Can Save Our Species