{"podcast":{"title":"Per My Last Email","slug":"per-my-last-email-6868760","podcast_index_feed_id":6868760,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/MOBI3448226780","website_url":null,"image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/9930ad78-d644-11ee-91a8-ebdd8f74b497/image/30162c4aad86dc1b562de08cadeb0db4.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Morning Brew","episode_count":120,"summary":"Is it okay to ask your coworker how much they make? Is Gen Z set up for failure in the workplace? Should you really bring your whole self to work? Each week on Per My Last Email, Morning Brew's resident career experts Kaila and Kyle—whose careers have collectively spanned the corporate, government, nonprofit, and startup sectors—debate the trickiest challenges in work life, and share tactics on how to overcome them.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-06T20:17:51.769868+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/per-my-last-email-6868760"},"episode":{"title":"Why “Optimization” Is Actually Making You Miserable","slug":"why-optimization-is-actually-making-you-miserable","published_at":"2026-05-18T10:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/per-my-last-email-6868760/why-optimization-is-actually-making-you-miserable","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/per-my-last-email-6868760","url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/tracking.swap.fm/track/bHsDpvy53mYwJpnc1UL5/traffic.megaphone.fm/MOBI6448391042.mp3?updated=1778875133","audio_url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/tracking.swap.fm/track/bHsDpvy53mYwJpnc1UL5/traffic.megaphone.fm/MOBI6448391042.mp3?updated=1778875133","summary":"In this episode, Kaila and Kyle are joined by author Brad Stulberg to dig into what we get wrong about “excellence,” what true excellence really looks like, and the achievable strategies to achieve it. Also check out Brad’s new book, The Way of Excellence: A Guide to True Greatness and Deep Satisfaction in a Chaotic World. 00:00 Intro 02:08 How Brad define’s “excellence” 05:47 What is “zombie burnout”? 07:59 How to avoid a sh**** flow state 11:05 Identity house 18:38 Should we be thinking in terms of a “minimum effective dose”? 21:42 The real meaning of grit 25:32 How do you know if you’ve found fit in a given profession? 28:01 Brad’s views on failure 31:35 Can a growth mindset ever handicap you? 33:44 The first step towards excellence This episode was sponsored by Granola. Head to granola.ai/brew to try Granola for free. That’s granola.ai/brew to try it today for FREE. Find Granola-generated notes on this episode here: https://notes.granola.ai/t/f3c9df4d-0c70-4de5-b584-bea0f16d3dcf-009c2hma Want to get all of Kaila & Kyle’s career resources? Subscribe to Per My Last Email: https://www.permylastemailshow.com/ Watch Per My Last Email on YouTube: @PerMYLastEmailShow Follow Per My Last Email Instagram: @permylastemailshow TikTok: @permylastemailshow Twitter: @permylast_email Have a question for us? Send us an email or voice note to permylastemail@morningbrew.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Each week on Per My Last Email, Morning Brew’s resident career experts Kaila and Kyle – whose careers have collectively spanned the corporate, government, nonprofit and startup sectors – debate the trickiest challenges in work life, and share tactics on how to overcome them. Share the show with a friend, and leave us a review on your favorite podcast a…","meta_description":"In this episode, Kaila and Kyle are joined by author Brad Stulberg to dig into what we get wrong about “excellence,” what true excellence really looks lik…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2390,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/per-my-last-email-6868760/episodes/why-optimization-is-actually-making-you-miserable/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/per-my-last-email-6868760/why-optimization-is-actually-making-you-miserable.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}