The very best version of YOU is already inside of YOU!
Today by the coffee machine, I ran into one of our engineers, who is an energetic, passionate and ambitious young man (the age thing is all relative ;-), who we are lucky enough to have working for EMG.
“I was flying for 22 hours last week,” he said.
“And, I spent it reading your Harmony blog from September through December.”
He said some very nice things, but my mind was lost in the fullness of my heart.
To have someone spend that kind of time with my thoughts fills me. It does. The fact that YOU take the time to read my words, is such a special gift to me. A gift that I don’t know how to repay.
I write for me… and more and more, I also write for YOU. So, THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart, for being EXACTLY who you are.
So, we were talking by the coffee machine, and my colleague told me about the book that he was reading, Fierce Conversations, by Susan Scott that I had recommended.
He hears something in the thoughts of HARMONY.
He reads something in Susan Scott’s book (which is amazing by the way).
And, we get into a short, but intense conversation about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I love those…
The very best version of ourselves already exists inside of us.
Imagine if we could truly OWN that thought. If the very best version of ourselves wasn’t someone that we had to CREATE, but someone that we had to unwrap?
How would you think and feel and act differently?
Why do you read this blog? Why do read the books your read?
Why is it that you read so much more into these words than others?
Is it because you already have the appreciation, the desire, the curiosity for HARMONY inside of you.
Why do people say, “The ones that most need to read the self help books, don’t.”
My friends that are most into “self help” are already working the hardest on developing themselves.
I can’t get enough. Every HBR article about organizational development, strategic development, mindset or culture I feel a compelling need to read.
When we read, see, hear, experience, learn about something that we already believe and value, it LIGHTS UP a part of ourselves.
We are ALREADY great… life is about experiencing the lessons that will turn our lights on and activate the very best brightness of our soul?
We spend so much time and effort trying to become something, someone better.
Some think that they can succeed carrying the weight of the person "we thought we were supposed to be" but the weight of that grows heavy on people and I believe always shows through…
I know many successful people who aren't happy… my sense is that is likely them.
People who have achieved success but neglected uncovering their code for their greatest self… wear masks and costumes and over time their legs and heart will give to the weight of who they really are… if they are to find happiness…
WHAT WE VALUE is both hard-coded and learned…
I don’t know the difference between the two…
But a part of me believes that each person has at their core…
THEIR VERY BEST SELF…
In so many ways, The code for our very best self has already been written…
When we meet people, see things, live moments, read lessons that inspire us… that make deep and powerful sense to us… It's not a sign of the power of the idea, its a sign of the coding in your soul and DNA…
The lessons we "learn" is less about "learning" and more about UNLOCKING a piece of ourselves that was already there.
This is why different people get such different value and take such different amounts away from the same book, or even from the same way of learning.
We've all heard, "the people who really need to read that, don't"… That's BY DESIGN.. The people that are lacking the coding for certain things, the appreciation, interest, passion for certain things… DON'T READ THE BOOKS THAT TALK ABOUT THEM! That's why I don't read too much about finance, because as much as I want to be financially successful… I don't care enough about it.
I am going to have to have my financial success come as a result of my passion for strategy and business… because I am not passionate about money itself. I sometimes try to be… but I just am not.
I am passionate about people and self development and harmony… that is why I can't pass up a book that helps me understand it better, and in turn turns on a different part of my dashboard.
We seek what we value.
We seek who we are.
We are on this
desperate
or
hopefully
passionate journey to unlock ourselves and our code…
The code of our greatest self.
..because we believe on some deep level,
that when we unlock ourselves we will be worthy…
or maybe its just out of curiosity or appetite…
I am not trying to be
Motivational
Or
Inspirational…
I really am not…
I want us to achieve harmony, and I am convinced this is simply TRUE.
I actually believe this is physiology.
Our brains and our genes define how we process information.
Then we add to that our nurturing…
I believe that in our purest and greatest self...
Jews and Muslims and Blacks and Whites and Men and Women and Homosexuals and Straight people....
In our greatest version of ourselves the world is a greater place...
We understand better, are more open to different ideas, and simply are more grateful, more liberated and more unified.
Ironic... by allowing ourselves freedom to be our most UNIQUE self, I believe we are in greatest HARMONY.
I believe that it is the fear and the DISTANCE from our greatest self... that makes us want to put on masks and costumes... that makes us WISH the world was a different place.
When we are AFRAID to be OPEN to our GREATEST self... I truly think we live in ANGER and don't want anyone else to live there either, so we try to quiet them literally or figuratively.
More practically, some of us learn by reading, some by watching, some by experiencing, some by doing. We all learn differently (and that is part of what is so very scary and limited about schools today).
We can all learn new skills. We can all learn to play the notes on an instrument, but we can't learn to improvise, to play with soul, to inspire with our sound.
We need to learn the basic survival skills and tools for life. I am not suggesting that you can forfeit learnings things that are not part of your greatest self... I am saying you can't ask people to be passionate about things that they are not passionate about. And, importantly, you cannot expect them to love what you love, see what you see... THIS IS A HUGE INSIGHT FOR ME...
In the past, I have judged people. I have judged people I love... because they weren't passionate where I wanted them to be passionate, they weren't growing how I wanted them to grow, they weren't showing up the way I wanted them to show up... How much of that was simply because they are great, but great in their own way, not mine?
What if we could FAN THE FLAMES of those around us, WITHOUT wanting nor expecting them to become who WE want them to become, but simply to give them the momentum and the confidence to become the greatest version of themselves... THINK ABOUT OUR KIDS...
Again, as parents, managers, leaders... we have to encourage or at times demand that those we are responsible learn the basic blocking and tackling of certain things and certain tools... AND that is only a small part... WITH THE BULK of our time and our love we should be acknowledging, seeing, encouraging those we love to UNWRAP themselves... and the biggest thing we can do to do that, is to simply help them understand that they are already GREAT.
Maybe that is why most religion and parenting books say simply to LOVE...
Maybe its not "unconditional" love, but rather "TRUSTING" love...
Doing out utmost to GIVE CONFIDENCE to those we love and work with and know to BE exactly who they think they are suppossed to, to go where gravity takes them... because we spend SO much of our energy and actions trying to find that person in other places (in books, in magazines, in newspapers, in degrees, in pictures, in our own dreams).
The things that I most passionately believe…
The things that I am acknowledged for…
The things that move me…
The things I fight for…
The best version of me… imperfect as it is… already exists inside of me.
My appetite to read more is to continue to uncover, unleash, and light up…
THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS TRUTH
Which is possibly harder to embrace than the simply OWNING our CODE,
is that..
We can't make others GREAT at things they are not passionate about!
Meaning, if it's not in your DNA and in your code
I wrote about this concept in some way in the “GIANT in all of us”, in the one where we talk about “Sculpture”, and one that I wrote about “inspiration”..
I truly believe that I can see the giant in people… the greatest version of YOU… and, I KNOW that it is already inside of YOU.
So,
pay attention to what moves you,
to what lessons you are most inspired by,
to what quotes you remember,
to what books you read and love,
What characters you associate with…
And, it will start to help you understand your inner code…
The fact that you are reading my words
Used to shock me…
I truly felt like I was not worthy of your time…
But, now it makes sense.
We SHARE a love, a desire, an appetite for harmony.
The same FIRE that makes me want to write, makes you want to read.
It is not my words that you find interesting and occasionally insightful…
IT IS THE AMAZING, CARING PERSON IN YOU THAT YOU ARE FINDING in a small way through these words…
BECAUSE WE SHARE THE THOUGHTS…
How amazing is that?
As I write, I somehow feel both special and accompanied…
I KNOW that I am not alone in my passion for harmony.
The very best version of YOU is unique and different, from the very best version of me.
BUT, the fact that you are still with me… says we share something, some part of our code…
YOU ARE AMAZING and ALREADY GREAT…
OWN that thought…
And unwrap and unleash your harmony in every moment.
YOURS somewhat rambly and MOST TRULY,
Nestor