Alright. I think it’s about time we try to settle the great debate between those who say “Follow Your Passion” and the others who say “Be Disciplined and Do Things You’re Great At.”
I don’t know about you, but from where I’m standing there’s no discernable difference. I honestly don’t understand what the fuss is all about.
What is a passion, can we even define it? Perhaps, the simply explanation is: Things we enjoy doing.
Now the follow up question should be: Do we get really good at the things we like, or do we like the things we do well? I say, it doesn’t even matter.
What both crowds want to tell you really, while at an utter loss for words, is that you only need to pursue Mastery.
All meaning and satisfaction in life come from compounding interest and the accumulation of knowledge and skill. In short, playing the long game. All misery comes to he or she who feels trapped, stagnated, or stuck at a certain position or a certain status in life.
Happiness, however badly defined it may be to some people, is nothing but a sense of calm satisfaction with the way things are going in one’s life. It doesn’t necessarily mean comfort and joy. People can be happy and satisfied while performing an arduous time-consuming and thankless task, as long as it fulfills the part of themselves that seeks progress and purpose.
The essence of our collective modern sickness, depression, and anxiety is that we grew up to be several levels removed from hardship. A person who grew up in a time where they had to wake up before dawn, bring water from a stream, cut wood for fire, feed the animals, milk the cows, and that’s even before they go about their business of the day, did not suffer from the luxury of an existential crisis. They did not struggle to add meaning to their lives, and they found immense pleasure from simple things.
There were no unlimited options for food and drink it was very limited options that were only available in the appropriate season. People used to crave things properly because scarcity is the essence of value.
Health issues were only what happened due to injuries sustained at work or war, famin, and sickness. There were no nutritional deficiencies, no daily supplements, and no-nonsense. You had a healthy dose of the sun that deliciously interacted with your skin and you had a healthy very high tolerance to extreme heat and extreme cold.
Your level of physical activity was extremely high because you simply had to. You were strong, with powerful muscles and bones that could take endless torture. You knew how to use your body properly, as well as its limits, which were considerably higher than what we collectively have today.
You had to deal with death every single day. It was a fact and an integral part of life. It also made life all that much sweeter and more precious.
You and I, we’re suffering from the diseases of the body and the soul that come as a result of extreme comfort.
The answer is to deliberately and intentionally do hard things. The more you succumb to comfort and pampering, the weaker your soul and body become.
Do you want health? Just stay away from the supermarket shelves stacked with long-lasting chemical concoctions designed to resemble food while completely devoid of any nutritional value. It’s designed to do one thing and one thing only: to make you want to consume as much of it as possible to make obscene profits for its manufacturers.
They use the cheapest ingredients available to substitute healthy ones, and they pump everything full of vegetable oils. And now crushed crickets and bugs protein are all the rage.
They make everything addictive by adding ungodly quantities of sugar, the most addictive drug on the planet and the most poisonous to humans in the long run. It also serves as a smoke screen for the other garbage in the ingredients.
It is such an interesting fact that once you cut sugar completely from your diet, your sense of taste regains its complexity and you suddenly can taste the quality of anything without sugar in it. Instant coffee immediately smells and tastes like dirt for example.
So you want a body free from sickness? Become strong, as strong as you possibly can. Build muscles, lift heavy things, climb, squat, pull, and push heavy stuff. Fight gravity and give it punishment. Your body will reward you with an immense lightness sensation, ease of motion, resistance to disease, and long life.
As we grow old, the ultimate luxury in life is your health. Nothing else matters. Absolutely nothing else matters than how strong and mobile you are in your old age.
Do you want to have a sense of meaning and fulfillment in your life?
Well, master something hard.
The world is crammed full of extremely successful and unfathomably intelligent people who would tell you that there’s something out there in this world that you’re most suited for and that you should deliberately and diligently seek it out.
Maybe you’ve been hearing all about finding your calling in life but you can’t find one. There’s nothing that’s been calling out for you, there’s no one to ask what were your interests growing up, and nothing seems to click with you. Again, this is the result of too much comfort, not enough challenge in life, you were not motivated enough by necessity and it left your soul weak.
Well, first thing to know is that you can absolutely create your own passion and pursue a craft that will catapult you to the heights of fulfillment in life if you’re really serious about it.
No one gives much explanation when they tell you to double down on your strengths. It’s such a mysterious concept to many of us, that we feel the need to “find it” or have someone validate it for us, but that’s not how it works.
Each of us was born into this world with a specific mixture of genetic material that gives us an advantage in certain aspects of life. It’s what people call talent or a gift. It’s not BS. Some people are born with a specific aptitude for sports, math, or whatever.
The really cool trick is that you need to pour yourself into each vessel you can find in the world and see if it fits you.
Experimentation and exploration, then plenty of hard work. That’s the key. You’re bound to find a few things that you do well faster than other things and enjoy a whole lot more. This is where you’ll find your pot of gold.
Now, simply double down on your strengths. All you have to do is focus on the things you do well and pour all your energy into them.
Forget everything about passion, a life’s task, a meaningful life, or seeking specific knowledge. All you got to do is just stand on the foundation of your skills—the things you do well–and just follow through with discipline and persistence.
When life turns it’s back on you, you’ll find that the only thing you can always rely on is whatever it is that you do really well.
The best thing to do in life is the pursuit of mastery. Your confidence, sense of self-worth, and your power, all stem from your knowledge of your own mastery.
Mastery is your gateway to everything that you ever wanted in life.
From Mastery, every reward and accomplishment, recognition, and esteem will be yours to have. And then you’ll want for nothing.
Master your life, and you’ll become healthy, wealthy, and ultimately, wise.
Thank you for reading. Join the newsletter for more blog posts delivered directly into your mailbox.
You can also follow The Book Review Blog on Medium, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, Telegram, Discord, BitClout.
The Book Review Blog 