The Pursuit of Excellence: The Uncommon Behaviors of the World's Most Productive Achievers

by Ryan Hawk

has tracked the physical and emotional well-being of two groups of people: 268 Harvard graduates from the classes of 1939–1944 (the Grant Study), and 456 men from very different circumstances—those “who grew up in the inner-city neighborhoods of Boston” (the Glueck Study) from the year 1939 to 2014. The conclusion? According to Robert Waldinger, the fourth director of the ongoing study, the factor that surpasses all the rest in terms of correlated importance to long and happy lives is love. “The clearest message that we get from this 75-year study is this: good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period,” he explained from the stage at TEDxBeaconStreet in 2015. “It’s not just the number of friends you have, and it’s not whether or not you’re in a committed relationship. It’s the quality of your close relationships that matters.”11 Kevin Hern is a senior financial analyst at a large pharmaceutical company who is living out Waldinger’s thesis. Kevin is very good at his job and he loves the work, but ask him about an annual event called Camp Hern and he lights up. “The first gathering started in 2006. I realized I wasn’t seeing the important people in my life enough, so I asked 10 of my friends to stay with me for the weekend.” This meant those 10 friends had to find random places to sleep in Kevin’s house, which was also home to his wife, children, and mother-in-law. While the quarters were initially tight, the bond it formed was intoxicating. The attendees promised...