Footnote 3 is the pearl of pearls. If I have said it once I have said it a thousand times from Hemingway, and that is the truth has a certain ring to it, and yes, true experts almost have a doubting paradoxical tone. Ask any farmer about starting to farm, and they wryly smile and try to talk you out of it. The exact antithesis of promotion. No promises of ripe fruit or charming sunsets.
I also will add one other self deluding method of too many experts- that by "following" the expert you no longer feel alone. Real self improvement and intuition following though, if you manage to keep a pure direct and honest voice, will find you rejecting others, yearning to be solo. You only crave one thing, and that is that little voice in your head just before you go to sleep at night saying, nay, knowing that you are on the right path, and that intuition is special and you will not want it to be sullied by others. The intuition in fact derives its visceral, bedrock strength from that titanium like connection to your psyche, and it will spur you to awaken with blind vigor the next morning. Then you will know. The rest is chicanery and tomfoolery. Thanks TJB
Fantastic comment. And you are spot on about a good part of this being about wanting someone to follow. As has been said elsewhere in these comments a huge part of this is about confidence and having the self believe to go it alone. And I think acquiring that is a question of taking a leap of faith. Cheers Worth.
I've been on a similar journey this year. When I look back at my biggest achievements, like launching my animation agency 12 years ago, I didn't follow a training course or 'blueprint'. I just saw what similar people were doing and copied them, then tested and developed over time. I've since consumed so much content that has not stated with me, as, at heart, I didn't really want to follow the advice.
Dan Kennedy coined the term 'Magnetic Marketing' decades ago but, like a magnet, it can screw with our internal compass.
This is what I'm hearing time and again, Phil, and it chimes with my experience too. Anyone who achieves anything doesn't follow a blueprint. They just get stuck in- often naively- and make it happen. I think this 'naivety' of not being limited and blinded by conventions is what we call 'Beginners Luck'
I agree that reading or going on a course about how to do stuff is often a good way of avoiding doing it. What's needed is:
* honesty: am I doing this for genuine reasons or as an avoidance strategy;
* a marginal cost/benefit approach: recognising the point at which the potential benefit of a self-improvement activity is outweighed the potential cost, in terms of not actually doing it;
* courage: the ability to say to yourself that something done is better than nothing done while striving for perfection.
Exactly. Honesty, courage and weighing up what is best for you based on your own criteria. I don't think these things can be 'taught' in a step by step fashion, they can only be encouraged and cultivated. This is what the best teacher and mentor figures do above all else.
Footnote 3 is the pearl of pearls. If I have said it once I have said it a thousand times from Hemingway, and that is the truth has a certain ring to it, and yes, true experts almost have a doubting paradoxical tone. Ask any farmer about starting to farm, and they wryly smile and try to talk you out of it. The exact antithesis of promotion. No promises of ripe fruit or charming sunsets.
I also will add one other self deluding method of too many experts- that by "following" the expert you no longer feel alone. Real self improvement and intuition following though, if you manage to keep a pure direct and honest voice, will find you rejecting others, yearning to be solo. You only crave one thing, and that is that little voice in your head just before you go to sleep at night saying, nay, knowing that you are on the right path, and that intuition is special and you will not want it to be sullied by others. The intuition in fact derives its visceral, bedrock strength from that titanium like connection to your psyche, and it will spur you to awaken with blind vigor the next morning. Then you will know. The rest is chicanery and tomfoolery. Thanks TJB
Fantastic comment. And you are spot on about a good part of this being about wanting someone to follow. As has been said elsewhere in these comments a huge part of this is about confidence and having the self believe to go it alone. And I think acquiring that is a question of taking a leap of faith. Cheers Worth.
Banger. The following sentence hits hard, "Experts and expertise are not the same thing."
I've started thinking about it this way: people don't need self improvement, what they really need is Self Revelation.
Great point
Self Revelation not Self Improvement. Wish I had said that. Cheers Clint.
I've been on a similar journey this year. When I look back at my biggest achievements, like launching my animation agency 12 years ago, I didn't follow a training course or 'blueprint'. I just saw what similar people were doing and copied them, then tested and developed over time. I've since consumed so much content that has not stated with me, as, at heart, I didn't really want to follow the advice.
Dan Kennedy coined the term 'Magnetic Marketing' decades ago but, like a magnet, it can screw with our internal compass.
This is what I'm hearing time and again, Phil, and it chimes with my experience too. Anyone who achieves anything doesn't follow a blueprint. They just get stuck in- often naively- and make it happen. I think this 'naivety' of not being limited and blinded by conventions is what we call 'Beginners Luck'
I agree that reading or going on a course about how to do stuff is often a good way of avoiding doing it. What's needed is:
* honesty: am I doing this for genuine reasons or as an avoidance strategy;
* a marginal cost/benefit approach: recognising the point at which the potential benefit of a self-improvement activity is outweighed the potential cost, in terms of not actually doing it;
* courage: the ability to say to yourself that something done is better than nothing done while striving for perfection.
Exactly. Honesty, courage and weighing up what is best for you based on your own criteria. I don't think these things can be 'taught' in a step by step fashion, they can only be encouraged and cultivated. This is what the best teacher and mentor figures do above all else.