# Why Top Performers Love The Hard Part

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-playbook-with-david-meltzer-500738/why-top-performers-love-the-hard-part
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-playbook-with-david-meltzer-500738/why-top-performers-love-the-hard-part.md
Podcast: [The Playbook With David Meltzer](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-playbook-with-david-meltzer-500738)
Published: 2026-05-27T07:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/MEREP5229928514.mp3
Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/MEREP5229928514.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-playbook-with-david-meltzer-500738/episodes/why-top-performers-love-the-hard-part
Duration seconds: 1430

## Resource

In today’s episode, I sit down with Sequel co-founders Matt Smith and Alex Macdonald, who bring together the worlds of professional sports, entrepreneurship, and early-stage investing. Matt shares how discipline, devotion, and constant self-improvement carried him from the lower levels of English football to the top tier, while Alex talks about building companies through rejection, resilience, and relentless curiosity. We discuss why the best athletes and entrepreneurs are often the first ones in and the last ones out, how identity can shift after success, and why fulfillment comes from the pursuit itself rather than the outcome. It’s a conversation about mindset, purpose, and making the most of every minute.

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## Transcript

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