Grow The Right Part Of Yourself
In grade school they teach our children this. As they progress through the educational system and find work, its the same. As an adult professional the same metrics are measured.
The only thing measured is competence. How good you are at something. Taking a test. Passing an exam. Or doing the job you were hired to do. When you’re highly competent, you get reward. Money, test scores, awards, accolades, etc.
Mark Manson has a different perspective stating, “competence is how good you are when there is something to gain. Character is how good you are when there is nothing to gain. People will reward you for competence. But people will only love you for your character.”
Character is fate as the expression goes. And so, build up your character. By the choices you make, by the thing you do and don’t do, the information you consume and the people you surround yourself around. By the way you live. Build up a strong character. Afterall, would you rather be well paid or well loved? A bank account full of money or a table full of family and friends. The ladder is worth more than the former.
As a consequence of developing your character you can become more competent in what you set out to do. Character acts as a guide, a compass of sorts. So, you can achieve both. Only if you focus on your character. You can’t crush it at work and expect home or your family to be ok. However, the opposite is true. If home is ok, you are much better at your work.
Character beats competence. And if you want both, build up your character. That is how you thread the needle of life, the right way.
What are your thoughts on this blog? Comment below…
Thought Provoking Questions : Would you rather money or love? Work on your character or your competence?
Daily I write and release a thought. A quick read. Sharing wisdom and asking thought-provoking questions. Influenced by the obstacles, success and failures in my life and of others. Using history, books, current events, and everyday life as inspiration. These writings are actionable, thought-provoking, designed to make your life better.
These writings are not to push a way of thinking on you or to force you into a certain way of thinking, or living. Rather to give you practical and real ways to handle life. This is an added tool. My writing is simply a conversation with all the material I consume.
I think this is a great piece on society and your perspective of the world we live in today. Hopefully what I’m about to say speaks to that. People grow up chasing titles and positions and they miss their calling on life. I think school has its place in society and roles as well. Let me ask you this would you like a doctor who has passed his classes to work on you or a doctor who hasn’t passed 1st grade. Now the one who hasn’t passed first grade may be a better doctor but school gives you some insight on what they know and what they are capable of. I personally would much rather the better doctor who is horrible at being a good person than a doctor who is an amazing person but killed 20 people do to the lack of technical skill. A lot of ways to spin it. Do I diss again with you no not at all but is there another side to your idea yes.
I think most of the observations made are broadly true. However, saying this they veer towards cliche and do not take much account of complexity and nuance. It is understandable that the writer might want to pass on the message - be a good person - it is a lot better than being a bad one, after all. Rarely do we see much hopeful writing that acknowledges the manifest unfairness of the world and its ways. Most of this is playing towards peoples' prejudices - the good end happily if you like. It is acceptable if the broad aim is the improvement of adolescents, however if it is an understanding of the human condition: the whys and wherefores of our flawed societies and generally conflict riven world, maybe this sort of writing is not so helpful. Why must there be metrics for adult professionals? I thought the point of being an adult professional was that a person was trusted to do their job to the best of their ability - that is why there is schools of higher education and professional qualifications. Who gets to decide what the metrics are? To the fairly causal writer - yes I do have post graduate qualifications but I am writing this off the cuff - it seems as if it is Samuel Smiles for bright teenage boys. There is nothing wrong with that, necessarily, but context is often expected as given. I hope that who ever read this note finds it helpful.