Waaaay back when I was in AIESEC (fervent sort of student sales-training / exchange organization) someone drew a fantastically simple little diagram. It was three circles, one inside the other.

The inner-most was labeled "comfort zone." The second was labeled "discomfort zone." The third was "panic zone." Outside the third was "the universe."

The presenter argued that you never got rid of your "discomfort zone" or your "panic zone," but you could slowly expand your "comfort zone" by venturing into your "discomfort zone," essentially making things comfortable that used to be uncomfortable to you, and stretching your boundaries. As long as you don't stray into panic zone, you'd be ok. And as long as you keep doing this, your little circles would encompass more and more of the universe.

So an example - you're trying to learn guitar. You are extremely uncomfortable about playing in front of other people, so first you force yourself to play in front of your romantic partner. That eventually becomes comfortable, and so you play in front of some close friends. Over time, you're finally comfortable enough to play an open mic night... and so on.

But, if you had gone straight from beginner to open mic night, with nothing in between, you might have gone into a full blown panic, and permanently associated guitar playing with the sheer panic scenario of open mic night with no prior context, and forever ruined the hobby for you.

Burnout is basically the result of a lack of mental and intellectual deload periods.

Anyone with any familiarity of physical training knows why deload is important, but culturally so many people feel like they're slacking off if they take it easy for a couple days, much less a week.

I'm pretty sure the author wrote that sentence playfully.

I think I'm comfortable with the notion that pushing forward to greatness in one spot will almost always come at the expense of something else.

We can only do so much. Balance is a hard concept. I think we're largely in agreement, but I don't think Adele would take back her career and her royalties to save herself from a surgery, nor should anyone compel her to do so. If she could learn how to be a superstar while preserving her voice that'd be ideal, but in our professions and lifestyles we don't always get that choice.

That said, I think baseball pitchers have a Tommy John problem. If baseball culture pushes the human body beyond what it can bear because it knows there's another tendon to play with after a year of rehab, you could make a case that there is a systemic issue worth fighting against.

This holds true for nearly all physical activities. Was mountain biking in Whistler a couple weekends ago, and my riding mate broke his collarbone due to riding a trail that was at the edge of his range.

But glory...

Well he was witnessed.