In Pursuit of Mastering Our Health
In Pursuit of Mastering Our Health
Rethinking how we push ourselves to be healthier
Worth Listening To
“If knowledge is power, then knowing what we don’t know is wisdom.” — Adam Grant in his book, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What We Don’t Know
This week’s Worth Listening To cheats a bit because there are TWO episodes that are especially worth your time:
ReThinking w/ Adam Grant — Brené Brown on what vulnerability is and is not
Dare to Lead w/ Brené Brown — Adam Grant on knowing what we don’t know
I had to choose both because they build on each other so spectacularly. There are many common threads as both have very similar philosophies, yet they resonate on different levels. Here are some of my favorite takeaways:
Thinking like a scientist (or, like a scholar? or, like a nerd?)
Not letting ideas become ideologies
Objectivity and a willingness to be wrong
Forecasting: The best forecasters “dare to disagree with their own forecasts.” They are constantly reframing and updating their models.
Courage requires vulnerability — **there is no instance where this is not true**
Military, firefighters, police, doctors, and nurses often recognize this — why is so hard for so many?
Leadership’s requirement of affection
Having to be right (knower) versus getting it right (learner)
**The damage our armor from childhood does to us as adults**
**There’s so much more from both episodes. I can’t recommend them strongly enough.**
Other Content I Learned from This Week:
ReThinking w/ Adam Grant — Simon Sinek and Brené Brown both join to discuss leadership.
Leadership is a team sport; you can’t do it alone. On that note, I highly recommend this inspirational post
Leaders in Innovation — Josh Wolfe on Human Nature & Trust in Science (Biotech) & Technology (AI)
Securities by Lux Capital — Josh Wolfe & Danny Crichton discuss toeing the line between being optimistic and pessimistic about A.I.
ReThinking w/ Adam Grant — Annie Duke on Knowing When to Quit
The Insight: Conversations w/ Howard Marks — Annie Duke on Thinking in Bets
Infinite Loops — Danny Miranda on his goal to sell out Madison Square Garden for his podcast, and his continuous progress each week.
Fareed Zakaria’s Twitter Post/Video — Politicization of Higher Education
Conversations With a Personal Trainer
This week, I had a wonderful conversation with one of my high school clients. He carries a level of insight I find exceptionally rare — especially for his age.
In this particular conversation, he offhandedly remarked, “I know I have to feel weak to get stronger.” This sparked a cascade of thoughts around this concept of ‘being weak.’ Maybe it’s all the Brené Brown podcasts…
I personally enjoy the feeling of being weak. Why? Firstly, weak is relative. To be weak, something has to be stronger. What we choose to compare our weakness to is where problems can arise. I choose to compare myself to my future self; I sure as hell hope I’m stronger in the future.
Feeling weak, when compared to your future self, means you’re working towards something.
In Pursuit of Mastering Our Health
While traveling to New York recently, I observed a man giving a tour in Central Park. He was explaining the history of the park, the landmarks in the city, and how the only natural body of water in the city can be found in Harlem. While eavesdropping, I thought, “Wow. This is a guy who has truly found his calling. He’s doing what he absolutely loves!” You could hear it in his voice, his confidence in what he did.
While having dinner one evening, the sommelier was announcing his wine selection for my wife and me. His confidence was palpable, and you could tell just how much thought and expertise went into his selection process.
Adam Grant had this wonderful point in last week’s Worth Listening To recommendation:
“When we communicate, we have access to the sum total of all of our thoughts and everything we’ve ever said that we can remember. We forget that other people only have a snapshot. So, one of the questions I like to ask is, ‘if this is the only post that somebody saw of mine, would I be proud of it? Would it communicate who I am and who I aspire to be?’”
I only had one glimpse into each of these individual’s lives. And yet, they left an imprint of themselves in my brain. They stood out. Each of them had mastered their chosen skill.
What does it take to master a skill? Achieving proficiency can be attained by almost anyone. Many kids grow up playing football. Approximately 6.5% of high school footballers will play Division 1 football each year. Only 1.6% of them will then make it to the NFL. In one of this week’s episode recommendations, Brené Brown has this to say:
“‘You know what? I’m not here to prove to anyone that I already know the answers. I’m not here to prove to anyone that I got it right the first time I tried. I’m here to keep improving myself, and I want to know how good I can get.” I so admire that aspiration to achieve mastery.”
When we tune in to watch football on a Sunday, what we don’t see is the hundreds, if not thousands, of hours spent on the training field and in the gym.
Warren Buffett has a concept called the Internal and External Scorecards. A simple but brilliant question he asks is, “Would you rather be the world’s worst lover but known as the best? Or would rather be the world’s best lover but known as the worst?” The idea being, do we care more about our abilities or how we are perceived? And will the person who cares more about what others think of them be willing to put in the work necessary to be successful, versus the person who continually tries to better themself for the sake of themself?
We all aspire to be healthy. But I think it’s fair to say many of us do not enjoy the process of getting there. Progress is slow, results happen internally far faster than externally, and roadblocks are ever-present. But consider this: Ask any NFL player how they got there. What was their journey? Two commonalities will arise from each of them: Hard work and help.
This again, is why I love my job. Yes, you do have to do the hard work, but I get to help you do it.
And just like each player in the NFL, or the tour guide in Central Park, or the sommelier, or Brené Brown, or Adam Grant, the best part of mastering something is you are constantly learning and growing. Challenging yourself to be better and improve. This is what it means to be healthy. To push yourself to be healthier than you were before.