A couple of nights back I read an article highlighting how reading from topic to topic, blog to blog, article to article or book to book is a poor way of gaining knowledge.
Knowledge gathering has to be deliberate. Doing less is better, allowing the mind to gestate and digest one idea at a time, fully and in-depth.
Last night, when playing the Splendor board game with the family, I noticed a pattern: trying to capture small value cards slowed down any attempt at winning the game. Realizing which of the higher value cards may be easier to get at the onset, set the stage for winning.
Connecting the two ideas, I realized focusing on a central and single topic, aiming to get early and big wins on key building blocks of activities, Going Big, would be a great way of gaining momentum in business or any of life’s goals.
Want to spend meaningful time with family? Go Big and block out a whole day, weekend or week with them, not just the couple of hours each night. The hours each night are good for maintenance. What you gain on times you Go Big has to be reinforcement nightly, but it’s the times that you Go Big when you create meaning and momentum in life.
Everything I read tells me going small is a disservice to the world. I’m not doing any favor to the world by going small. It’s not that the world needs to hear specifically from me, Arash Sayadi. It’s that by going small, the whole organism of the Planet and the Cosmos moves or progresses more slowly.
We’re like the cells in our bodies. Each person is a different cell. Yes, we are individual cells. Yes, our individual efforts are for our own survival, reproduction and improvement, but we are part of a larger organism. We’re all interconnected.
Our actions make a difference, specifically if they are big and in coordination with other cells. If I’m an antibody, I make a difference when fighting a virus. I can’t just partially fight it, I have to completely, wholly fight it. I have to Go Big. If a lot more antibodies Go Big with me and fight the virus, we win. If it’s just me, the fight will fizzle out and the human organism is worse off.
So, what I do, how I interact with others, how I make a living, help our kids grow, isn’t just about me. It’s about all of us. It’s about the benefit I immediately deliver and how my actions are perceived and replicated by others. Going small sets no precedence nor advances us enough.
Selfless Modeling is key: Create a model of your big and bold actions and behavior to advance yourself and all of humanity. Deliver the benefits for yourself and everyone else, not for personal gains or notoriety, but for the betterment of the whole of humanity. The individual is important and effective, but only when working as part of the larger organism. And the individual is most effective if he gives it all that he’s got.
Go Big!
