MWB #50 - We all need an example
Last Thursday, as I was returning from work, something happened. At first, I was standing on the train and couldn't press my phone but was listening to music. Then at the next station, a seat became available. I took it and brought out my phone. As I scrolled, a picture of a company with some of its executives popped up on my timeline. I zoomed in on the picture and focused on the black men there like a reflex. Yes, there are people of different colours in the picture but my intuition was to look for those that looked like me.
Ordinarily, I'd let go of that reflex and not be sharing it with you today. However, my mind hasn't stopped thinking about that episode since then. It got me thinking a lot about why I'd do that and its significance.
As the universe will have it, later that night the news that Ketanji Brown Jackson had become the first female supreme court justice also broke. And at that point few things connected for me.
Success is easy if you have someone to handhold you through the process. Hard to go through it all by yourself. What Ketanji did was go through it all by herself and if you followed the event you will see how gruesome it was.
An example is often a testament that it has been done once, and it can be done again and again and again. The lack of one means a lot of doubt exists about the likelihood of seeing it come to fruition. When I zoomed in on that picture, what I was unconsciously looking for is a reassurance for myself that all that I could dream of can be accomplished. Most importantly because these are men of similar passion and they've done it. In such a case, uncertainty is drastically reduced.
Note that I have not met any of those I speak of. That's the nature of the kind of example that I meant here. It is symbolic. They don't necessarily have to hold your hand, they just need to be visible from the mountain top.
I hope you find an example that reassures you and reduces uncertainties around your dream.
3 Ideas TO Challenge Your Mind
Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don't just give up.
~ Stephen Hawking
A lot of people are trapped in the valley of "if I step up, can I keep it up?"
Come up from that valley.
Emerge!!!
It's a simple fact of life: if you want to do something incredible, something that makes you stand out above the rest, then you have to become comfortable being different—that means being misunderstood, criticized, even hated.
Things I am exploring right now
Reading about China's history and its accession. Since the beginning of the 2020s, actually, since the late 2010s, there’s been endless talk about the impending decline of the US and the rise of China. I have always been curious and I’ve read a few things. However, this past week, I read this thread on Twitter and I decided it was time I paid even closer attention.
Getting more curious about the EV industry. A newsletter that I am subscribed to shares some interesting things that grabbed my interest.
I also saw the SpaceX documentary on Netflix and it makes me love science all over again. And I had to buy one of my all-time favourite books “Brief Answers To Big Questions” by Stephen Hawking
See you next week ;)
