Why We Build
Personal Growth in a Competitive World
Hi guys, how’s your Friday going?
I’ve challenged myself to write a short, to-the-point, punchy post. Not my strong point by any means, so wish me luck!
I figured there’d be more chances for chats with a short post.
So, my mission, if I choose to accept it, is to write something that doesn’t make you feel like you’ve been on mind-expanding psychedelics once you’ve read it.
I’d be delighted to hear your random punchy one-liners in the comments...or your hopes, fears and dreams…you know, the small stuff.
Tired. All the tired.
I’m also writing a short piece because truth be told, my last two Disney extravaganzas have nearly killed me.
My writing process lately has been nothing like the effortless creative flow I imagine other writers experience. I’d love to say they came from a place of free-flowing creativity but they were pure grind. Fortunately, I’m stubborn so it kinda works.
Why We Build
Where does creativity start and finish?
Whether it’s business or art, family, or just life, we’re in the process of creating something, aren’t we?
I get a sense that what we create in the outside world is mirrored by an unseen quality on the inside too. That’s why journaling is such an important therapeutic tool.
I joined my son and his mates playing football yesterday and I could see some of the internal world spilling into the external world when one kid missed a goal and another kid called him “Stupid”.
He didn’t say “Unlucky”, “Good effort!” or “You’ll get that shot next time,”.
He said, “That was stupid”. This means he thinks people who fail are stupid…people who make mistakes are stupid. This will translate to how he lives his life; “Don’t risk making a mistake, people will think you’re stupid”.
As above, so below.
Another Brick in the Wall
Have you heard the analogy of climbing a ladder only to find when you get to the top you’re on completely the wrong wall?
Wuthering Heights (an exposed place where the wind blows strongly)
How many walls do we climb before we realise we’re just climbing other people’s walls?
What walls have society schooled us into climbing; Walls of money, notoriety, power, and status?
Even our beloved Substack has joined in. Giving us the money wall as a metric for our success on its new dashboard layout.
If we’re all climbing the same wall of course we have a lot of people to compare ourselves to and with.
Risking a look up at the people near the top of the money wall I might forgive myself for elbowing the folks who are at my height competing for the same space that I occupy.
Worse still, looking up without getting capitalism shit in your eye takes a lot of effort, and I fail to notice the people down below that I’m also shitting on.
We’ve been trusting in the wrong things but there is a different way.
There’s a Different Way
There’s a different way, but first Youtube…
My 8yr old would be hooked up to youtube 24hrs a day if I let him.
Partly because it’s genuinely fascinating and informative and partly because it’s so fast-paced, stimulating and loud that his little brain isn’t allowed any natural breaks to think, “I’ll turn this off now”.
We know how brains work in this regard. Random reward theory is well established in psychology research. It’s nothing short of exploitation.
Fortunately, there are a lot of amazing creatives on there choosing a different approach.
Folks like Ryan Trahan.
I actually have no idea who he is other than a young successful YouTuber. I stumbled into him explaining how he moved from an Exploitative to a Redemptive business model.
Maybe it was my generation that modelled the exploitative mainstream ‘winner takes all’ attitude but his wisdom and integrity have shone through the fog of capitalism. It gives me hope that this generation… basically my son’s teachers…have walked past the ladders we’ve set out for them.
Ryan’s different way…
EXPLOITATION: Work ethics. Reward centred. Using methods of control and force. Projects are to gain dominance and exert influence in your sector
REDEMPTIVE: More creative and less hustle culture. Care is at the forefront. Projects are of service and for the good of humanity.
Ryan doesn’t mention where the business model he uses is from but ‘redemption’ is obviously a strong Christian theme.
I don’t think that needs to complicate the issue. Whether you’re redeeming your soul or redeeming vouchers at the grocery store it means to ‘buy back’ and I think that’s a good way to frame it.
Buying back our Shit
Aside from religious instruction, I think to redeem oneself…to reclaim oneself…to restate your own values, are important concepts in the modern world.
Thoughts?
Glad it’s not just me with the blogs! I only write when the flow is there. Ie and idea and at least a starting point. Can get it written down in as long as it takes to put pen to paper. But then by the time I type it up, edit it, select pictures and share it, we’re talking hours and hours! Think it was 4 hours total for yesterdays blog and that was just a quickie in the spur of the moment, it started out as a post and quickly expanded x
My son would be glued to YouTube and the PS5 all day if I let him. He has no tolerance for being bored. It’s hard work, but I hope that the boundaries that we have in place for him now will mean he learns how to create his own boundaries when he’s older.
On the subject of ladders, I climbed them for a long time and got where I thought I wanted, only to find that what I want is not at the end of a ladder. If only not climbing would pay the bills as well as climbing does.