Sunday Sharies 04.24.22

A QUOTE

“A genius is the one most like himself.”

― Thelonious Monk, American jazz pianist and composer

A QUESTION

What type of growth do you care about more than everyone else in your circle?

A THOUGHT

Three motivating conditions underpin human growth: competition, creativity, and resistance.

Competitive markets reward the owner of the preferred outcome with a material gain. That could mean money in exchange for the best product or a trophy to the team that won the game (or had the largest budget to buy the best players). The motivation is compensation.

Creative pursuits improve us in less quantifiable ways. We come to life when we hear perfect harmony, watch the Lord of the Dance, or laugh realizing things don't need to be so serious. The arts teach us how to reflect on the past and imagine the future. The motivation is self expression.

Resisting comforts and desires builds spirit and self-discipline. Resistance is NOT hitting snooze, it's putting your muscles under strain, turning off Netflix to pick up a book, chasing something you care about without doing so for profit. By exposing ourselves to periods of resistance we not only learn to tolerate discomfort, we get stronger because of it. The motivation is antifragility.

Committing to any of these challenges is a noble pursuit of growth.