One of the issues with being around for a while and getting very good at something is that we can fall back into a sort of remote-control mode: “This is the way we have always done something.” We seem to have a level of domain expertise in it and, thus, this is the way we will do it again today. Imagine if every day we had to re-learn everything from scratch? Fortunately, we are wired to be incredible pattern recognizers. We only have to learn to ride a bike once. This is the upside of learned experience. The downside is that we can zone out when we feel something is routine and, after a lot of years of walking around, there can be a lot of routine.
Knowing around 80% of something is more or less the sweet spot for full engagement. It means there is a curiosity about the parts we don’t know; there will be some amount of struggle to learn the new parts, some amount of fear that we won’t be able to do whatever it is, and then a high degree of satisfaction when we eventually do get it. If we only know 20% of something, then we may be swamped: the jargon becomes impenetrable, the methods too foreign, and as much as we lean into it, we flounder. But if we know 100% of something, or we delude ourselves into thinking so, then our curiosity plummets, attention wanes, and part of us just checks out. As much as I loved my previous career as a photographer, after 30 years, this is exactly what would happen when I was tasked with a routine ad job: I would zone out, even if it outwardly appeared that I was mastering the task.
Sadly, I see this all too often: someone starts declaring they are old, and I use that word in terms of a mindset rather than a birthday count, then they begin to falsely believe the struggle of novelty is no longer possible or desirable, and a downward slide begins. Some routine is needed. I wear more or less the same color outfit every day, but use routine to open up energy for the struggle of doing something new. Not everyone wants to be challenged but we are, on the whole, better when we are operating in that 80% zone. A bit of fear, a bit of doubt, and a lot of curiosity around whatever the novel situation is all combine to bring a level of focus to the moment that otherwise isn’t there. Although I am no expert in the matter, this is more or less what I understand Carol Dweck’s often-quoted work on growth mindset to be about. We need a challenge; we are hard-wired to do hard things, which can mean something different to all of us. If we persist in saying no to new things, to new ideas, and to new people, boredom and perhaps even depression will set in. For some, a hard thing may be meditating, it may mean saying hi to a stranger; to others it may be a new sport, or a new career. One of the things we have learned from a decade of research on the subject is that total comfort leads to total decay. We are stronger, braver, and more capable than we may believe. As Julia Linn says, embrace your hard, it is where we feel most alive.
Onward and upward,
David
