3-2-1: Masters and amateurs, the source of passion, and a cure for jealousy

Happy 3-2-1 Thursday!

Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week...

I.

"You will love whatever you pour your heart into. Passion follows commitment."

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​II.

"The amateur does not know what to do.

The master knows what not to do."

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III.

"Curiosity can empower you or impede you.

Being curious and focused is a powerful combination. I define this combination as unleashing your curiosity within the domain of a particular task: asking questions about how things work, exploring different lines of attack for solving the problem, reading ideas from outside domains while always looking for ways to transfer the knowledge back to your main task, and so on. Even though you're exploring widely, you're generally moving the ball forward on the main thing. You start something and you keep searching until you find an effective way to finish it.

Meanwhile, when your curiosity sends you off in a dozen different directions and fractures your attention, then it can prevent you from focusing on one thing long enough to see it through to completion. Curious, but unfocused. You're jumping from one topic to the next, they aren't necessarily related, your efforts don't accumulate, you're simply exploring. You start many things and finish few.

How is your curiosity being directed? Is it rocket fuel or a roadblock?"

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(Hat tip to Matjaž Leonardis for sparking the idea.)

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I.

Wilbur Wright, who worked with his brother to create the first successful airplane, on predicting the future:

"I confess that, in 1901, I said to my brother Orville that men would not fly for 50 years. Two years later, we were making flights. This demonstration of my inability as a prophet gave me such a shock that I have ever since refrained from all prediction."

Source: Speech at Aero-Club de France (1908)​​

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​II.

Entrepreneur and investor Naval Ravikant on jealousy:

"When I was young, I had a lot of jealousy in me... I learned to get rid of it. It still crops up every now and then. It's such a poisonous emotion because, at the end of the day, you're no better off, you're unhappier, and the person you're jealous of is still successful or good-looking, or whatever they are.
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I realized that all these people that I was jealous of, I couldn't just cherry-pick and choose little aspects of their life. I couldn't say I want his body; I want her money; I want his personality.
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You have to be that person. Do you want to actually be that person with all of their reactions, their desires, their family, their happiness level, their outlook on life, their self-image? If you're not willing to do a wholesale, 24/7, 100% swap with who that person is, then there is no point in being jealous."

Source: The Knowledge Project, Episode 18​

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Who is one person you want to spend more time around next year?

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https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/december-28-2023

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Until next week,

James Clear
​Author of Atomic Habits and keynote speaker​​

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p.s. They tried to warn us social media was coming​...​