“Do things that scare you” is my personal instruction for 2024.
Many people believe in setting new year’s resolutions, I believe in giving myself an instruction to live by. A clear order that I can refer back to when I’m not exactly sure how to behave or what choice to make.
In the final week of 2023, I reflected on what next year’s instruction should be. I believed the theme of “conquering fear” deserved some emphasis. Choosing more familiar phrases like “just follow your passion” or “do things that make you happy” wasn’t enough. At least, it wasn’t enough for me based on past experiences.
To recall back, between the ages of 13 and 16, I’d spent the majority of those years absolutely obsessed with basketball. It was all I did during recess and it completely filled up my weekends. I religiously followed the Toronto Raptors and even pestered my parents to buy me a #33 Antonio Davis jersey. I loved the game, but I wasn’t very good. Despite practicing and playing for god-knows how many hours, I plateaued pretty quickly. I was passionate and having fun but I seldom examined how I could improve. I didn’t challenge myself enough because I fell into a trap that simply getting my reps in and having fun was enough—à la Malcom Gladwell’s “10,000 hours rule” if, like me, you’ve only heard the phrase and haven’t read the book. :)
Pure repetition can work for rote memorization (which is what school often encourages) but it doesn’t work for a multi-faceted sport like basketball—a great jump shot is only a small fraction of the game. Thought another way, getting good at a complex skill is like growing a muscle, you’re not going to gain much by solely curling 30 lb dumbbells for the rest of your life. You need to increase the weight steadily, even if it’s outside of your comfort zone (even Bezos struggles with this).
Ok, but why does it have to be “things that scare [me]?”
Again, from personal observation, I’ve noticed that I lose motivation if my accomplishments seem too marginal for too long. To go back to the gym analogy, it’s clear the next step from 20 lb dumbbells is the set of 25s. But the 25s may seem a little too daunting, so I convince myself that the 20s are adequately challenging. I then inevitably stay at 20 lbs for too long, progress slows over days and weeks, and eventually lose interest. My hypothesis is that fear setting and overcoming those fears is the antidote to atrophying interest.
This year my challenge is working without a full-time job and it’s a little daunting. I have 10 years of software development and management experience but I don’t have any experience acquiring clients, pitching my services, selling online, SEO, etc. This is a big jump for me but I feel it’s necessary—I need to push myself in order to grow.
Doing both a full-time job and freelancing isn’t in the cards for me—a full-time job requires my full-time attention. My desire to build additional streams of income is necessary but unfortunately insufficient. I need something else, some skin in the game, to keep me motivated. Paying attention “to what scares me” will be my tool, my compass, to ensure that I keep challenging myself and stay on course.
Good Beats
J-A-Y, and 'Ye so shy
That he won't even step to his idol to say hi
Standing there like a mime and let the chance pass by
Back of my mind, "He could change your life
With all these beats I did, at least let him hear it
At least you can brag to ya friends back at the gig"
But he got me out my momma crib
Then he help me get my momma a crib
Controversy aside, Ye’s music is full of heart and that’s what’s made him a successful artist (the lyrics above sounds like pages torn from a diary). Love him or hate him, it’s takes courage to be vulnerable in your work and when you deliver, people feel it.
On genius.com, the song’s about page captures it perfectly:
This is also a good example of Kanye being a different type of artist: most rappers would never have the confidence to put out a song explaining their feelings for another man, let alone a colleague and fellow rapper.
A 50¢ word (aka words that say a lot with less)
Metamorphosis: a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means.
I was reminded of the process of metamorphosis after watching Silence of the Lambs, though I can’t find a direct use of the word.
Hannibal Lecter elegantly describes the process of change,
The significance of the moth is change. Caterpillar into chrysalis, or pupa, from thence into beauty.
Digging into the biological process a bit, caterpillars actually liquify during the chrysalis stage. Enzymes rip a part and dissolve muscle and tissue only leaving certain structures in tact. Even for the caterpillar, change seems painful.
For Your Thoughts
Do one thing every day that scares you.
—Eleanor Roosevelt
The subconscious inspiration for this post and the title.
Happy New Year :) 2024 ain’t got nothin’ on 2023.
Yours,
-Rahul
P.S. a reminder you can reply directly to oldmanrahul@substack.com, or you can tweet me @oldmanrahul about this edition. Thanks for reading and supporting my writing :)