Searching vs. Doing

On my travels, I’ve had time to revisit a few of my favourite books.

Here are four excerpts that resonated with me from Tribe of Mentors, a collection of interviews with elite performers across various disciplines.

Let me know if any hit home for you.

Tim Ferriss on courage and becoming exceptional:

On my coffee table at home, I have a piece of driftwood. Its sole purpose is to display a quote by Anaïs Nin, which I see every day: “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”

It’s a short reminder that success can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations we are willing to have, and by the number of uncomfortable actions we are willing to take.

The most fulfilled and effective people I know- world-famous creatives, billionaires, thought leaders, and more – look at their life’s journey as perhaps 25 percent finding themselves and 75 percent creating themselves.

Note from Tommy: A common theme I’ve noticed from studying top performers is that they view their lives as the process of building themselves, brick by brick, to become exceptional. Through reflective thought and intentional work, akin to building a house.

Terry Crews on courage and fear:

“God will not have his work made manifest by cowards” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I love this quote because it is all about defeating fear. Every great and extraordinary accomplishment in this world was done through courage.

The more you run from your fears, the bigger they get, but the more you go into them, the more they tend to vanish like a mirage.

Steven Pressfield on starting life:

Get out of the hypercompetitive “life hack” frame of mind. I’m 74. Believe me, you’ve got all the time in the world. You’ve got ten lifetimes ahead of you.

Don’t worry about your friends “beating” you or “getting somewhere” ahead of you. Get out into the real dirt world and start failing.

Why do I say that? Because the goal is to connect with your own self, your own soul.

Adversity. Everybody spends their life trying to avoid it. But the best things that ever happened to me came during the times when the shit hit the fan and I had nothing and nobody to help me.

Who are you really? What do you really want? Get out there and fail and find out.

Debbie Millman on being too busy:

“Busy is a decision.”

Here’s why: Of the many excuses people use to rationalize why they can’t do something, the excuse “I am too busy” is not only the most inauthentic, it is also the laziest.

I don’t believe in “too busy.” We do the things we want to do, period. If we say we are too busy, it is shorthand for “not important enough.”

Simply put: You don’t find the time to do something; you make the time to do things. If you want to do something, you can’t let being busy stand in the way, even if you are busy. Make the time to do the things you want to do and then do them.

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Πηγή: thomasdixon.substack.com