The Process (Work in Progress)

I previously wrote about how I reduced time spent watching sports. I enjoyed watching the production (e.g seeing what they choose to show on TV) more than the actual sport.

After thinking about that for a while, I realized what I would rather see the process of the athletes preparing for games. I love seeing what goes into producing something, particularly the mindset that goes into it. There is more that I can learn from that aspect rather than watching the finished product. I'm a big believer that you can learn a significant from outside your experience/industry. It is no surprise that increased diversity often leads to better solutions.

I think the process is so much more satisfying and more beneficial than seeing the end product in every way, whether that be gaining knowledge, growing empathy, and just the lesson that instant success isn't really a thing.

I've always been fascinated by the story. We love hearing success stories, but I don't think we fully comprehend what actually goes into it. We see the abstract result but we don't hear about the hard work, the lows, the lucky breaks, and everything else that comes with it. I want to build the appreciation for the time and effort that goes into it by hearing those stories. Knowing that amount of energy that goes into building something great is important.

For some reason, we, as a society, tend to value natural talent more than skill that is built up with effort and time. I felt the pressure of wanting to feel smart by pretending that I didn't put any effort in my education or even my career; it was like if I put in any effort, I wouldn't be seen as intelligent. I had my own weaknesses that I had to overcome and I set myself to purposefully overcome those shortcomings in my own way. Knowing my strengths have proven to be critical to have gotten to where I am now, and knowing my vulnerabilities has been my greatest strength.

Let's not idolize the instant success story. It devalues the hard work people put into their craft to get to where they are.

Empathy is built. It's built from knowing people's tribulations. You can appreciate other people's achievements more when you can empathize with the amount of time, effort, and energy. You can be inspired (rather than jealous) when you know how much effort it took for people to get to where they are. We can encourage others that more is possible when they know that achieving does not come easy.

For anyone that is in the RI/MA area that would like photographs of them doing their craft, contact me as I would love to take pictures of your process.