Big Idea Daily | Discipline Equals Freedom
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Field Manualby Jocko Willink |
BIG IDEA
Nature vs. Nurture
FROM THE BOOK“What is more important: Nature or nurture?
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In my opinion: Neither. … To me, it is not about nature or nurture: It is about choice.
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The people who are successful decide they are going to be successful. They make that choice. And they make other choices. They decide to study hard. They decide to work hard. They decide to be the first person to get to work and the last to go home. They decide they are going to take on the hard jobs. Take on the challenges. They decide they are going to lead when no one else will.
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They choose who they are going to hang around and they choose who they will emulate. They choose to become who they want to become—they aren’t inhibited by nature or nurture. They overcome both.
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And I will tell you something else: It is never too late to make that choice. You are never too old to decide where you are going to focus your efforts and push to make the most out of every situation.
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So. Think not about what you’ve been through and where you were. Think about where you are going, and choose. Choose to make yourself smarter and stronger and healthier. Choose to work out and study and eat good food and keep your mind clean.
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Don’t let nature or nurture make you. Choose to MAKE. YOUR. SELF.”
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Brian's Notes
Nature or Nurture?
How about NEITHER?
Jocko tells us that he’s spent time with every type of person, from the “Ivy League kids with silver spoons, former gangbangers, hood rats, prep school kids, kids from blue-collar families, kids from strong families and kids with no families, kids who were pampered and kids who were abused. And everything in between. Everything.”
And with all those different types of people, some were successful and some were not.
Yes, of course, we’re influenced by our genes and our environment. And, yes, we can debate all day long about what percentage of autonomy is left after we account for the influence of nature and nurture on who we are today.
AND…
We ALWAYS (!!!) have a CHOICE in how we can respond. Always. RIGHT THIS SECOND.
Which is why Viktor Frankl (who lost the “Nurture” lottery when he found himself in a concentration camp) said this: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
It’s also why Frankl said this: “Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.”
And, that’s why Stephen Covey made “Be Proactive” (aka: Be “Response-Able”/make CHOICES!) Habit #1 of Highly Effective People.
Spotlight on YOU. Are you blaming your Nature or your Nurture?
Let’s embrace reality. And use any and all obstacles as FUEL for our growth—knowing that if we have certain vulnerabilities we just need to work that much harder to Optimize that part of our lives. Let’s move from being the Victim of our story to the Hero of our story and show other people in similar situations just what’s possible as we FORGE our own SOUL FORCE and give the world all we’ve got. TODAY.
P.S. Joseph Campbell has some tough hero’s journey love on the subject as well. In The Power of Myth, he tells us: “Freud tells us to blame our parents for all the shortcomings of our life, Marx tells us to blame the upper class of our society. But the only one to blame is oneself.”
Big Ideas
01: UNTIL THE END
02: NATURE VS. NURTURE
03: GOOD
04: STOP EATING SUGAR
05: DO
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