Getting thrown in the deep end
It’s funny to think about the optimal way of learning. As I mentioned in my previous writings ‘virtuosity’ plays a very important role in my life. Not just in training, but in everything that I do. You must master the fundamentals in order to be considered good. Now having experienced several different jobs, sports, etc. I’ve realized in a majority of them I’ve been somewhat tossed into the deep end to figure things out for myself. I know enough of the basics to find myself through but, you have to realize that what makes you better is taking a few steps back. Making sure you know the ins and outs of what you’re doing.
This leads to a question I ask myself often just to make sure I’m headed down the right path and I’m keeping myself in check: What am I becoming? Doing what I’m doing now every single day, what will I become? If the answer isn’t your dream then there’s something off.
The key is to always be striving for something that’s a little far from reach. You’ll continue taking the steps to get yourself closer. However, to always be striving means you never get to the end until it’s taken away from us (death).
To never reach the end isn’t something to be disappointed. Rather the joy comes from the pride in being better than what I was yesterday but also knowing damn well I’m way better than what I was 2 years ago.
This is all we can do. Be proud of what you do. When there’s a dream at hand there’s no question about what the purpose of your day is.
Maybe you find yourself with a dream but its too overwhelming to take action, you have no idea where to start. Reaching goals takes discipline and structure. Discipline, faith, and structure take care of hardship. With these three pillars it’s hard to get off path.
Find a place to start and continue to do it until another opportunity arises or you get a better idea. In this path you’ll have more questions than when you started.
It’s like guiding a horse with a carrot. You dangle it in front of them, they’ll continue moving towards it until they get it (not knowing the carrot continues to move forward as they move forward).
Long story short, jump into the deep end and find your way to the shallow end and spend some time there figuring it out. The deep end won’t feel so deep after you spend more time learning.
THINGS I’VE BEEN READING/REVISITING
48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene- I started this book a while back and stopped because it feels so strange to read something that seems so manipulative. I picked it up again because I don’t like having unread books on my bookshelf and, well I feel the same way about it haha.
When Breathe Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi - I think this is top two books I’ve ever read. It’s up there with The Four Agreements. I went to sit by the pool on Sunday to finish the book and had tears coming down my face by the end of it lol.
Lucy Kalanithi (Paul’s wife) // “Paul’s decision not to avert his eyes from death epitomizes a fortitude we don’t celebrate enough in out death-avoidant culture. His strength was defined by ambition and effort, but also by softness, the opposite of bitterness. He spent much of his life wrestling with the question of how to live a meaningful life, and his book explores that essential territory.”
Crash Course: Metabolism and Nutrition 4th edition - This one was recommended in Boston. It’s been great so far. A lot of stuff coming together from biology in high school. It’s wild to realize how much I learned in that class.
Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Finally finished this one.
THINGS I SAVED
