Something I call SuccessーEntitlement

Let's talk about something I call successーentitlement.

Many fast-brained humans have it, although they usually don't realise it.

Here's the mechanics of it:

If learning new things or acquiring new skills in certain areas is very easy for you, you will naturally gravitate towards those.

In other words: you will - consciously or not - pick things you KNOW you will be successful at.

Areas in which you can immediately stand out.

In arenas in which you are 100% positive that you will be the last smart human standing.

And yes, that is nice.

Success is nice.

Feeling special is nice.

Until it isn't - because it also ruins you.

Because your tolerance for sucking at something drops down to zero.

Because you stop stretching yourself and growing in deep, meaningful ways.

And you, fast-brained human, can figure out what that does for your overall happiness.

Yeah.

So think about it:

What are you doing right now that you can't bluff your way through?

That you can't hack with your smart mind?

What are you doing that you - currently - suck at?

If the answer is 'nothing, really', then I suggest you find something.

Doesn't need to be work-related (although it can be).

Doesn't need to be something you share with the world (although it can be).

But it definitely needs to be something that lets you fail consistently - or at least not be as good and impressive as you like to be.

And just so you know: in addition to helping you grow, putting in a lot of work to learn something, whether it's sourdough baking, martial arts, playing an instrument, and so on, is one of the most fulfilling things in the world.

So sucking at something, once you embrace the process, is actually quite delightful.

One of the things I'm currently trying to learn is painting with watercolours.

So hard.

So. Much. Fun.

Do I want to tear up the paper the minute I've finished most of my watercolour experiments?

Absolutely.

Do I love every second of actually playing with paint, observing how it reacts to the paper, how the colours change when it dries, how mixing in a tiny bit of ultramarine turns my dark sepia into a beautiful grey?

100%.

So stop being success-entitled and go suck at something.

You'll love it.

Image: sucky watercolour portraits of author's scissors