Most honest and straightforward talk about personal transformation I heard so far. If you want to make sense of all the twist and turns in your life, misfortunes, luck and sudden connections, listen to Robert Greene’s lecture. “Nothing is wasted”.
Main topic is the internally-driven manner in which we inevitably invite opportunity, which brings about our transformation. When one is aligned to one’s talents and skills, and motivated by passion, there’s an energy one emits and concrete steps one takes to either consciously or unconsciously get in the line of the right opportunity.
Original Robert Greene:
“We humans tend to fixate what we can see. When we look at the change
and transformation in other peoples lifes, we see the luck, his connections.
We see in others the great jobs or the project which brings in the money and attention.
We see the visible signs of opportunity and success in other people.
But we are grasping at an illusion.
What really allows for dramatic changes are the things that occur on the
inside of a person and are completely invisible. The slow accumulation of
knowledge and skills. The incremental improvements in work habits and
the ability to withstand criticism.
Any change in people’s fortune is merely the visible manifestation
of all that deep preparation over time.
By ignoring this internal invisible aspect, we fail to change
anything fundamental in ourselves.
The key ability to transform ourselves is very simple.
Reverse this perspective. Stop fixating on what other people are saying
and doing. On the money the connections the outward appearance of things.
Instead look inward, focus on the smaller internal changes that lay
the groundwork for a much larger change in fortune.
It is the difference between grasping at an illusion amd immmersing
yourelf in reality. Reality is what will liberate and transform you.
Here is how it works in your life:
Each person is fundemnetally unique, on of a kind.
In early childhood this uniqueness manifested by the things you were drawn to.
Certain subjects and tastes, social behaviour, activities.
I call those primal inclinations. You can not rationally explain why you were
drawn to certain words, music or questions about the world around.
As you get older you often lose contact to these. You listen to friends and
teachers. You become a stranger to yourself.
Your life’s task is to return to these inclinations and uniqueness that
marked every person. You enter career paths that don’t suit you,
emotionally and intellectually.
Your life path is to reflect back and return to your earliest inclinations. Based on
your reflections you decide on a path you must take. Writing, painting, a branch of science
or business. Start listening to your internal radar.
Most people want straight paths to the perfect position and a fat paycheck.
But instead you must welcome your flaws and mistakes, they widen your experiences, they
toughen you up.
Nothing in this process is ever wasted. The goal is learning and the aquisition
of skills is not a fat paycheck.
What happens when you adopt this internally driven mindset? You enjoy the
learning process itself. You learn overcoming obstacles, you increase your
skill level.
The point is reached where you are thoroughly prepared from within.
You will draw opportunities to you because people will sense how prepared you are.
The way to transform yourself is through your work. Through our work we can
connect to who we are instead of running away. By entering this process, we
can change ourselves from the inside out and with our work we can
contribute to our culture.