You don’t always have to beat them. Sometimes you just have to still be standing when they get bored.

Plenty of things that look like contests are really tests of who runs out of interest first. People who run on intensity tend to burn through it and move on to a new target or a new obsession. Staying steady is not passive. It is the only move that does not depend on their energy.

If something is grinding on you right now, shrink the question from winning to getting through the week. Keep the routine that holds you together, sleep, and make no large decisions while it is loudest. Check in a month whether the thing is still there or whether only you are.