On this solo rant, Mookie Spitz takes a flamethrower to the myth that “good enough” is good enough. From riding in a limo with a MacArthur Genius Award winner who admits he’s only a 7 out of 10 happy, to hearing his own Marine son clock in at the same dismal number, Mookie calls bullshit on mediocrity.
This episode dives into why 70%—in school, in success, in happiness—is failure dressed up as passing. What is happiness, really? Not trophies, money, or approval, but the raw, lived satisfaction of doing the thing that feeds your soul. Whether that’s writing, running, painting, parenting, traveling, or even just carving out space to breathe without apology, the small daily choices that bump your score up count. Try dumping one toxic habit, starting one healthy ritual, cutting loose the dead weight of a stale relationship, chasing the creative itch you’ve been ignoring to excel beyond your own mediocre.
Mookie pulls from Dostoevsky’s basement grind, the Matrix’s failed paradise, and his own relentless content obsession to argue that settling for a “seven” is a quiet death sentence. If you’ve ever felt stuck in the sludge of “just okay,” this episode is a slap in the face and a dare: change shit up, raise your score, take the risks you’ve been dodging, and push your life to an eight, nine, hell, even a 9.5. Why? Because you’re going to die, no one really cares, and the only real failure is wasting time and settling at seven.
