Demand The Best For Yourself

Growth MindsetLoneliness

Sep 23

Written By Nathaniel Drew

I. The idea of starting on a new project or endeavor can be paralyzing.

I love this quote from Epictetus that feels like a sort of kick in the ass:

“How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself?”

I think the decision of beginning a new project or endeavor boils down to whether or not you’re okay with not acting on your curiosities. Something within you is telling you that you have something to create, or else you wouldn’t be asking this question.

I think we often don’t act on our curiosities because of fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of what we’ll discover. These are fears you must become good friends with because they aren’t ever going to go away completely (at least, in my experience so far). I’ve learned that that’s okay. It actually means you’re on the right track. You’re pushing the edges. You’re testing your boundaries.

II. Pain is one of life’s greatest teachers.

I go back to this idea often.

This is not without caveats of course, but I believe this is a really interesting way of reframing the mistakes, failure and suffering that we all go through.

I also think this fits well with the idea of growth mindset.

The pain that I go through becomes meaningful if I can learn from it. That transforms it into something that serves in shaping me into a person with a deeper understanding of the human experience.

Pain in my experience, is humbling. It provides contrast in life.

III. I released what I’m loosely calling my first “mini-documentary” on the topic of loneliness, which includes two interviews with what I consider to be experts on the subject. They shed a lot of light on the topic for me and I’m very excited to now share that with you. You can check it out here.