☕ saturday mornings - September 3, 2022
big dreams, real happiness & the secret to learning anything
Happy Saturday all!
I hope you’re having a lovely start to your weekend.
What I’ve been up to:
I've spent the week settling in at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain with my girlfriend. Pamplona is an idyllic European city, surrounded by medieval stone walls with a lovely old town in its center, best known for the Running of the Bulls in July. I always knew culture shock existed, but adjusting to life in another country will take a bit of time.
Here's a recap of the coolest things I've explored this week.
✍️ Quote I’m pondering:
H. Jackson Brown, American author, on pursuing big dreams:
"Never give up on a dream just because of the length of time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway."
📚 Book passage I loved:
I was happy; I knew that I was happy.
We sense happiness with difficulty while experiencing it. Only when it has passed and we look back do we suddenly comprehend, sometimes with astonishment, how happy we have been.
I, however, on this Cretan shore, was experiencing happiness while being simultaneously aware of my happiness.
― Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis
💡 Idea from me: The Secret to Learning Anything
The epilogue in George Leonard's book 'Mastery' is one of the most memorable stories I've read this year.
It explores a question: What are the keys to lifelong learning?
Leonard tells a story of being approached by a man, that had the appearance of a lumberjack, while relaxing at a lodge in San Francisco. The man had a simple demand: “I want you to tell me how I can be a learner.”
Leonard panicked as his mind went blank. Then he calmly replied: “It’s simple. To be a learner, you’ve got to be willing to be a fool.”
This idea mirrors one developed by Carl Jung: the Trickster is the precursor to the Savior.
What does this mean?
You're a fool when you start something new. You don't know what you're doing.
But, if you're not willing to be a fool then you'll never start anything new. And if you never start anything new that you won't develop.
The willingness to be a fool is the precursor to transformation.
(P.S. Tim Ferriss loved the epilogue so much, that he got permission to publish it in a blog post titled 'The Master and the Fool'. It's 100% worth the 5-minute read.)
❓ Question for You:
A question from philosopher Will MacAskill, to measure your happiness throughout the day:
If you could, and it had no negative consequences, would you jump forward in time to the end of what you’re currently doing?
📸 Photo of the week:
Posing in front of the Monument to Ernest Hemingway right outside the Bull Ring in Pamplona.
If you have any feedback or just want to be friends, feel free to reach out.
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Have a fantastic weekend.
Much love to you and yours,
Tommy
Baller in Spain