This post, Thinking Bigger Tricks, is the one I'm talking about. I'm going to quote liberally from it.
Another experiment: imagine you're an inter-galactic agent who's been sent to this planet in order to clean things up. The planet is on a downward course, people are fighting about stupid stuff, destroying their environment rapidly, and following self-serving leaders who don't have more of a clue than they do. Something needs to be done, so the Grand Council in the galactic core have sent YOU. What are you going to do?
Most of us settle down on having a certain standing in life, a certain sphere of influence, a certain range of things we might attempt to do. It is different for each of us, but most of us imagine certain boundaries around our sphere of influence.
. . .
Some people, who seem no more well-equipped as human beings than me, might choose bigger lots in life. To be a politician, and be elected to office, for example. They're not smarter people, but merely people who assume that they ought to do that.
Am I living small simply because I don't assume I should be living large?
2 comments:
I was raised in small town, midwestern tradition of being "salt-of-the-earth", humble, solid, hardworking. There is a lot that is good about that tradition, and I embrace a lot of it. Everything can have a dark side, however. Financial success and large scale accomplishments can actually have a stigman in this mindset. That's something I'm thinking about a lot, lately.
Why off blog?
Interestingly, Matt, I think of you when I think about this topic. You have said that you have a "get what I want" gene. My observation is that you believe you can and should get what you want, and that makes it more likely that you will. I can see you succeeding in a large corporation because you probably believe people should do what you tell them to.
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