Drilling Through Mountains
(52 pages long)
DRILLING THROUGH MOUNTAINS *excerpt
We're talking about living a meaningful life and newsflash, a life full of meaning doesn't happen by accident. If that’s the case, then the best way to break this down is to reverse engineer it. But be warned. If you continue reading and digesting what comes next, you’ll be without excuse. You won’t be able to say you don't really know what to do.
You and I want our lives to count for something.
You and I want to live remarkable stories.
So, let’s simplify this, by using two simple hand tools as our metaphor. A hammer and a chisel. When he drilled through that mountain, Das used these two tools to get what he wanted. It required both tools equally and it required a LOT of repetition and commitment.
Hammer = Voices Chisel = Choices.
How do you drill a hole through a mountain? How do you do something meaningful? How do you create a life that you're proud of? These two tools are crucial for you and I to realize a life like that.
Let’s build the case a bit further. See if you spot a trend here. How do you become an interesting person? You need to do interesting things. You need to talk about interesting things. You need to care about interesting things. There’s no way around this. How do you become a respected person? You need to do respectable things. You have to say respectable things. How do you become a responsible person? Ok. You get it.
Remember, this is not simply about getting attention or approval.
It’s about getting admiration from people who actually matter…including yourself.
Ask yourself. Would you rather have a great reputation with strangers or people in your life who matter? Picture the striving CFO at a company who is quickly climbing the corporate ladder. She keeps getting bigger offices, nicer cars and increasingly more money in her paycheck. Her ego is swelling, her stress level is dangerously high and her friends have forgotten what it’s like to spend time with her.
To be fair, maybe this is exactly what she wants. Only she knows that. For most of us, we know this would leave us emotionally and socially hollow.
Hard work at the expense of deep relationships and contentment isn’t the only thing we can get caught up in while searching for a meaningful life. Attention seeking can lead us down negative or darker paths too.
You can get attention by doing the wrong thing. it's very easy to do the wrong thing. It's very easy to be an idiot. It's hard to do the right thing. It's even harder to do the right thing over and over and over habitually. Many times doing the wrong thing seems so enticing.
——————————
There’s a compelling quote attributed to Teddy Roosevelt. “Comparison is the thief of joy.” I’d like to offer what I believe to be a more helpful statement.
“Unhealthy comparison is the thief of your best self.”
If you were to compare an aspect of your life to someone else’s, and in turn you make strides to emulate a healthy behavior or perspective, I’m all for it. When comparison pushes you to entertain thoughts of superiority or inferiority directed at another person or at yourself, that’s the danger zone.
For me, I began to understand this between 10th and 11th grade—I was going to stop being so obsessed with trying to be a second-rate version of everybody else. And I was going to start, moment by moment, being a version of myself that I was proud of. Most of all, a version of myself that earned the admiration of people in my life that mattered. It didn't happen overnight. But here's the deal. We already have a Sally. Stop being a second-rate version of Sally, we already have one. Stop being a second-rate version of Fred, we have a Fred. Don't be a second-rate version of him.
Now, it's okay to be inspired by people, but when you try to become them, that's what gets weird. Fred has this, and Fred has that. Or your neighbor gets a new car, and you're like, “Oh, I want to get a new car now. This is old lemon I'm driving is the worst.” Stupid. Fred, meanwhile, does not have a good relationship with his family members. He's very successful in some ways that you are not, and vice versa. You are successful in ways that he isn't. Heck, I read about a guy in L.A. that had spent over 100K on surgeries in order to look like Justin Bieber. Really. The article sadly ended with him being found dead on the floor of his apartment after an overdose.
Everyone's got some good, bad, and ugly in their life. Everybody. And you and I need to stop trying to be a second-rate version of someone else because you don't know the whole deal of who those other people are. It's just what you see on the outside.
Look at Mike Tyson. You look at that guy, and you're like, “Oh, man, what an incredible athlete. If only I could be a millionaire, and be a champion, and on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and be famous.” Yeah, Mike Tyson, you know what his net worth was? Here's one thing he's not good at, money management. Mike Tyson, at the height of his career, what was his net worth? Go ahead, guess. $300 million was his net worth at the height of his career when he had the most money he ever had. What's his net worth now? $3 million.
Do you know why? Because he wanted to buy another helicopter.
He's thinking, “I want to buy more helicopters.” He needed someone slapping him, “Stop buying helicopters, Mike! Put your money in savings, and stocks. No more helicopters.” The guy had a 64-bedroom house. He needed more bedrooms. For why? For whom? Who's going to clean that house? I don't know. We look at somebody, and then we get jealous, and it’s a stupid habit.
“Unhealthy comparison is the thief of your best self.”
We do it all the time, we want to live a meaningful life, and then we look around, and think, “But they went on a trip to Cabo. I went to Target. That's where I went on a trip to. Target. Gosh, it must be nice. They go on all these trips. Oh, look at all their pictures, they look so happy and impressive.” Cut. It. Out.
No matter how “successful” you are, it will never be enough when you are addicted to comparing. Admiration is a whole different story. Anyone can get attention. The average Instagram account has 150 followers. On Instagram right now, I have 3,000 followers, and some people say, “Geez you’re lucky.” I could be an idiot and get 50,000 followers by ruining myself and hitting myself with things and putting firecrackers up my nose. There are some accounts like that. I could be a complete idiot. I could have gone to Area 51 and filmed myself. “I'm through the gates!” Yes, I would have gotten a lot of attention. I would not have any admiration, I promise you. And what I want you to focus on is getting admired more than getting people's attention.
(52 pages long)
DRILLING THROUGH MOUNTAINS *excerpt
We're talking about living a meaningful life and newsflash, a life full of meaning doesn't happen by accident. If that’s the case, then the best way to break this down is to reverse engineer it. But be warned. If you continue reading and digesting what comes next, you’ll be without excuse. You won’t be able to say you don't really know what to do.
You and I want our lives to count for something.
You and I want to live remarkable stories.
So, let’s simplify this, by using two simple hand tools as our metaphor. A hammer and a chisel. When he drilled through that mountain, Das used these two tools to get what he wanted. It required both tools equally and it required a LOT of repetition and commitment.
Hammer = Voices Chisel = Choices.
How do you drill a hole through a mountain? How do you do something meaningful? How do you create a life that you're proud of? These two tools are crucial for you and I to realize a life like that.
Let’s build the case a bit further. See if you spot a trend here. How do you become an interesting person? You need to do interesting things. You need to talk about interesting things. You need to care about interesting things. There’s no way around this. How do you become a respected person? You need to do respectable things. You have to say respectable things. How do you become a responsible person? Ok. You get it.
Remember, this is not simply about getting attention or approval.
It’s about getting admiration from people who actually matter…including yourself.
Ask yourself. Would you rather have a great reputation with strangers or people in your life who matter? Picture the striving CFO at a company who is quickly climbing the corporate ladder. She keeps getting bigger offices, nicer cars and increasingly more money in her paycheck. Her ego is swelling, her stress level is dangerously high and her friends have forgotten what it’s like to spend time with her.
To be fair, maybe this is exactly what she wants. Only she knows that. For most of us, we know this would leave us emotionally and socially hollow.
Hard work at the expense of deep relationships and contentment isn’t the only thing we can get caught up in while searching for a meaningful life. Attention seeking can lead us down negative or darker paths too.
You can get attention by doing the wrong thing. it's very easy to do the wrong thing. It's very easy to be an idiot. It's hard to do the right thing. It's even harder to do the right thing over and over and over habitually. Many times doing the wrong thing seems so enticing.
——————————
There’s a compelling quote attributed to Teddy Roosevelt. “Comparison is the thief of joy.” I’d like to offer what I believe to be a more helpful statement.
“Unhealthy comparison is the thief of your best self.”
If you were to compare an aspect of your life to someone else’s, and in turn you make strides to emulate a healthy behavior or perspective, I’m all for it. When comparison pushes you to entertain thoughts of superiority or inferiority directed at another person or at yourself, that’s the danger zone.
For me, I began to understand this between 10th and 11th grade—I was going to stop being so obsessed with trying to be a second-rate version of everybody else. And I was going to start, moment by moment, being a version of myself that I was proud of. Most of all, a version of myself that earned the admiration of people in my life that mattered. It didn't happen overnight. But here's the deal. We already have a Sally. Stop being a second-rate version of Sally, we already have one. Stop being a second-rate version of Fred, we have a Fred. Don't be a second-rate version of him.
Now, it's okay to be inspired by people, but when you try to become them, that's what gets weird. Fred has this, and Fred has that. Or your neighbor gets a new car, and you're like, “Oh, I want to get a new car now. This is old lemon I'm driving is the worst.” Stupid. Fred, meanwhile, does not have a good relationship with his family members. He's very successful in some ways that you are not, and vice versa. You are successful in ways that he isn't. Heck, I read about a guy in L.A. that had spent over 100K on surgeries in order to look like Justin Bieber. Really. The article sadly ended with him being found dead on the floor of his apartment after an overdose.
Everyone's got some good, bad, and ugly in their life. Everybody. And you and I need to stop trying to be a second-rate version of someone else because you don't know the whole deal of who those other people are. It's just what you see on the outside.
Look at Mike Tyson. You look at that guy, and you're like, “Oh, man, what an incredible athlete. If only I could be a millionaire, and be a champion, and on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and be famous.” Yeah, Mike Tyson, you know what his net worth was? Here's one thing he's not good at, money management. Mike Tyson, at the height of his career, what was his net worth? Go ahead, guess. $300 million was his net worth at the height of his career when he had the most money he ever had. What's his net worth now? $3 million.
Do you know why? Because he wanted to buy another helicopter.
He's thinking, “I want to buy more helicopters.” He needed someone slapping him, “Stop buying helicopters, Mike! Put your money in savings, and stocks. No more helicopters.” The guy had a 64-bedroom house. He needed more bedrooms. For why? For whom? Who's going to clean that house? I don't know. We look at somebody, and then we get jealous, and it’s a stupid habit.
“Unhealthy comparison is the thief of your best self.”
We do it all the time, we want to live a meaningful life, and then we look around, and think, “But they went on a trip to Cabo. I went to Target. That's where I went on a trip to. Target. Gosh, it must be nice. They go on all these trips. Oh, look at all their pictures, they look so happy and impressive.” Cut. It. Out.
No matter how “successful” you are, it will never be enough when you are addicted to comparing. Admiration is a whole different story. Anyone can get attention. The average Instagram account has 150 followers. On Instagram right now, I have 3,000 followers, and some people say, “Geez you’re lucky.” I could be an idiot and get 50,000 followers by ruining myself and hitting myself with things and putting firecrackers up my nose. There are some accounts like that. I could be a complete idiot. I could have gone to Area 51 and filmed myself. “I'm through the gates!” Yes, I would have gotten a lot of attention. I would not have any admiration, I promise you. And what I want you to focus on is getting admired more than getting people's attention.
(52 pages long)
DRILLING THROUGH MOUNTAINS *excerpt
We're talking about living a meaningful life and newsflash, a life full of meaning doesn't happen by accident. If that’s the case, then the best way to break this down is to reverse engineer it. But be warned. If you continue reading and digesting what comes next, you’ll be without excuse. You won’t be able to say you don't really know what to do.
You and I want our lives to count for something.
You and I want to live remarkable stories.
So, let’s simplify this, by using two simple hand tools as our metaphor. A hammer and a chisel. When he drilled through that mountain, Das used these two tools to get what he wanted. It required both tools equally and it required a LOT of repetition and commitment.
Hammer = Voices Chisel = Choices.
How do you drill a hole through a mountain? How do you do something meaningful? How do you create a life that you're proud of? These two tools are crucial for you and I to realize a life like that.
Let’s build the case a bit further. See if you spot a trend here. How do you become an interesting person? You need to do interesting things. You need to talk about interesting things. You need to care about interesting things. There’s no way around this. How do you become a respected person? You need to do respectable things. You have to say respectable things. How do you become a responsible person? Ok. You get it.
Remember, this is not simply about getting attention or approval.
It’s about getting admiration from people who actually matter…including yourself.
Ask yourself. Would you rather have a great reputation with strangers or people in your life who matter? Picture the striving CFO at a company who is quickly climbing the corporate ladder. She keeps getting bigger offices, nicer cars and increasingly more money in her paycheck. Her ego is swelling, her stress level is dangerously high and her friends have forgotten what it’s like to spend time with her.
To be fair, maybe this is exactly what she wants. Only she knows that. For most of us, we know this would leave us emotionally and socially hollow.
Hard work at the expense of deep relationships and contentment isn’t the only thing we can get caught up in while searching for a meaningful life. Attention seeking can lead us down negative or darker paths too.
You can get attention by doing the wrong thing. it's very easy to do the wrong thing. It's very easy to be an idiot. It's hard to do the right thing. It's even harder to do the right thing over and over and over habitually. Many times doing the wrong thing seems so enticing.
——————————
There’s a compelling quote attributed to Teddy Roosevelt. “Comparison is the thief of joy.” I’d like to offer what I believe to be a more helpful statement.
“Unhealthy comparison is the thief of your best self.”
If you were to compare an aspect of your life to someone else’s, and in turn you make strides to emulate a healthy behavior or perspective, I’m all for it. When comparison pushes you to entertain thoughts of superiority or inferiority directed at another person or at yourself, that’s the danger zone.
For me, I began to understand this between 10th and 11th grade—I was going to stop being so obsessed with trying to be a second-rate version of everybody else. And I was going to start, moment by moment, being a version of myself that I was proud of. Most of all, a version of myself that earned the admiration of people in my life that mattered. It didn't happen overnight. But here's the deal. We already have a Sally. Stop being a second-rate version of Sally, we already have one. Stop being a second-rate version of Fred, we have a Fred. Don't be a second-rate version of him.
Now, it's okay to be inspired by people, but when you try to become them, that's what gets weird. Fred has this, and Fred has that. Or your neighbor gets a new car, and you're like, “Oh, I want to get a new car now. This is old lemon I'm driving is the worst.” Stupid. Fred, meanwhile, does not have a good relationship with his family members. He's very successful in some ways that you are not, and vice versa. You are successful in ways that he isn't. Heck, I read about a guy in L.A. that had spent over 100K on surgeries in order to look like Justin Bieber. Really. The article sadly ended with him being found dead on the floor of his apartment after an overdose.
Everyone's got some good, bad, and ugly in their life. Everybody. And you and I need to stop trying to be a second-rate version of someone else because you don't know the whole deal of who those other people are. It's just what you see on the outside.
Look at Mike Tyson. You look at that guy, and you're like, “Oh, man, what an incredible athlete. If only I could be a millionaire, and be a champion, and on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and be famous.” Yeah, Mike Tyson, you know what his net worth was? Here's one thing he's not good at, money management. Mike Tyson, at the height of his career, what was his net worth? Go ahead, guess. $300 million was his net worth at the height of his career when he had the most money he ever had. What's his net worth now? $3 million.
Do you know why? Because he wanted to buy another helicopter.
He's thinking, “I want to buy more helicopters.” He needed someone slapping him, “Stop buying helicopters, Mike! Put your money in savings, and stocks. No more helicopters.” The guy had a 64-bedroom house. He needed more bedrooms. For why? For whom? Who's going to clean that house? I don't know. We look at somebody, and then we get jealous, and it’s a stupid habit.
“Unhealthy comparison is the thief of your best self.”
We do it all the time, we want to live a meaningful life, and then we look around, and think, “But they went on a trip to Cabo. I went to Target. That's where I went on a trip to. Target. Gosh, it must be nice. They go on all these trips. Oh, look at all their pictures, they look so happy and impressive.” Cut. It. Out.
No matter how “successful” you are, it will never be enough when you are addicted to comparing. Admiration is a whole different story. Anyone can get attention. The average Instagram account has 150 followers. On Instagram right now, I have 3,000 followers, and some people say, “Geez you’re lucky.” I could be an idiot and get 50,000 followers by ruining myself and hitting myself with things and putting firecrackers up my nose. There are some accounts like that. I could be a complete idiot. I could have gone to Area 51 and filmed myself. “I'm through the gates!” Yes, I would have gotten a lot of attention. I would not have any admiration, I promise you. And what I want you to focus on is getting admired more than getting people's attention.