Learn: The envy test, feeling stupid, Mozart lesson

Read: 3 mins

Hola from PDC, 

Today is day 5 of no caffeine. (I may or may not be sleep-typing right now.) 

But your goodies never sleep. Here are 3 things to make your week amazing. 

🤔 The Envy Test

I used to think “envy” was a dirty word. 

But I was thinking about it wrong. My friend Isabel wrote a thought-provoking essay on competing constructively and I loved this part:

“The people we envy the most are not the people that are 10x better than us, but the people that are 10% better than us: those performing near our level, just a few steps ahead. They are suggestions of what we could be if we just tried a little bit harder.”

So really envy is more of a signal that we're getting closer to the work we're called to do.

We don't envy NFL quarterbacks because they're too distant and different from us. But we may envy a colleague or friend with a big success or lavish Instagram feed.

Use envy as a signal, not a setback.

🧠 Slightly Stupid

Paradoxically, when we feel stupid is the exact moment we get smarter. 

We should feel stupid more. 

It’s when we go for long periods of not feeling stupid, that we should, well, feel stupid. (in a loving way of course)

🎼 Mozart Advice 

I love this story.

A young man came to Mozart and asked him how to write a symphony. Mozart replied, “You’re too young to write a symphony.” The man said, “You were writing symphonies when you were 10 years of age, and I am 21.” Mozart said, “Yes, but I didn’t run around asking people how to do it.” (source)

Sometimes what we think we want... is not what we really want (or the work we can't help but do).

Con mucho gusto,

Mitchell