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Do and Become
What Epictetus (2000 years ago) and Abraham Maslow (50 years ago) teach us about becoming what we do
“Every habit and capability is confirmed and grows in its corresponding actions, walking by walking, and running by running … therefore, if you want to do something make a habit of it, if you don’t want to do that, don’t, but make a habit of something else instead. The same principle is at work in our state of mind. When you get angry, you’ve not only experienced that evil, but you’ve also reinforced a bad habit, adding fuel to the fire.” — Epictetus
You are what you consistently do. You are not what you should do, would do, or could have done. If you do good things, you become good. If you do bad things, you become bad. If you do bad things and you know you should have done good things but were too cowardly, you become worst and lose inner trust.
This is valid for everything: health, productivity, motivation. Lost your creative juju? Sit down and do something creative, now. Then another. It is by doing that we become, not by thinking of doing.
Let’s close it off with Abraham Maslow’s famous:
“What one can be, one MUST be”
You’re a programmer? Code. You’re a leader? lead. You’re a designer? design. You’re a writer? write. You’re a bird? sing. You’re a tree? breathe.
