Book 133 - A Year of Magical Learning (Top 5 - Five Part Reflection 5/5)

Reflection Title – Don’t Do It Alone!

Book – Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman (5/5)

Book Description: If there is one belief that has united the left and the right, psychologists and philosophers, ancient thinkers and modern ones, it is the tacit assumption that humans are bad. It's a notion that drives newspaper headlines and guides the laws that shape our lives. From Machiavelli to Hobbes, Freud to Pinker, the roots of this belief have sunk deep into Western thought. Human beings, we're taught, are by nature selfish and governed primarily by self-interest. But what if it isn't true? International bestseller Rutger Bregman provides new perspective on the past 200,000 years of human history, setting out to prove that we are hardwired for kindness, geared toward cooperation rather than competition, and more inclined to trust rather than distrust one another. In fact this instinct has a firm evolutionary basis going back to the beginning of Homo sapiens. 

Reflection:

I have to imagine that being a genius must be lonely, miserable, and isolating. It sounds like a tortured way to live your life. When I hear the words “genius”, my mind immediately starts to think of guys like Elon Musk, Van Gogh, Mozart, Steve Jobs, and Tiger Woods. They are brilliant at what they do. The whole world is in awe of what they produce, and rightfully so as what they can do isn’t easy to reproduce. It took them a lifetime of singular focus, blood, sweat, and tears to get to the heights of their abilities.

However, I have a feeling that if you asked “normal” people if they would want to change places with any of those people, I think 99.5% of them would say no without blinking an eye.

The author of Humankind said something brilliant that stuck out to me, and I’ll never forget. He said (paraphrasing), “Evolutionarily speaking, being kind and copying one another scales, being a genius does not. A Genius may have 1 friend that they can teach and share their genius with. A person who is agreeable, kind, caring, and mirroring of their social circle will have 10 friends. Which one spreads faster?”

Bottom line, kindness is replicatable…genius is not! That is why Kindness wins!

Because they are so unique, this world loves to show off their genius’ as the role models to champion. They are different, unique, and stand out. We can’t understand them, so we put them on display like aliens to observe and entertain us. We are tricked into thinking that being a genius is the path to happiness and success. We quickly learn it is not, because it is so isolating and lonely.

For most of my adult life, I’ve been trying to model these genius’ path. I read all the books, listened to all their stories, dissected their lives, and did my best to try and recreate their process. I failed miserably time and time again. Along the way, I alienated a lot of people as I swore that I didn’t need their help and I could figure this out for myself. After I lost Emilia, losing everything sent me on this quest to learn what really matters to me. One of the things I discovered was that having friends to produce meaningful work together with really mattered. Because of that, I made one of my core values, “don’t do it alone”.

Striving to “don’t do it alone” is what led me to finding my Co-Founder, Trieu, and the instant connection we created. It is what has led us to mentor 20+ people in the past year as we helped them on their own Core Values Quest we designed. It is what has led us to starting up meet up groups and podcasts to connect with new people in activities we love. It is why I wrote I Can’t Imagine and why I’m doing this Year of Magical Learning project. This is all about sharing, giving, helping, and being kind to the rest of the world. It is about embracing being human.

In striving to never do it alone, I’ve never been happier and more fulfilled in my entire life. At the end of the day, that is a fundamental truth the humans have known since our existence. It is why we are the most dominant animal in the world. Genius separates us, but kindness brings us together. Together we thrive.  

Question: What would happen if you invited others to share more into your world?

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Links:

What is The Year of Magical Learning? An Introduction

YOML Podcast Discussion - Coming Soon

YOML Bookstore - Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman