How You Become
Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting a particular way. You become just by performing just actions, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave actions. – Aristotle
What we do makes us.
The idea of “muscle-memory” applies to character and life skills as much as it does to playing tennis or baseball.
Our abilities to live well are native and resident but they don’t develop automatically.
What we focus on develops.
If our focus is worry and lack, we see the World as a scary place and develop skills of defensiveness and protection. We take fewer and fewer “risks.”
If, however, we focus on potential and our latent abilities, and take small and consistent steps to develop ourselves we see the World as abundant and inviting. We take calculated, intelligent and worthy risks.
The former path makes us increasingly small and the latter increases us – and our access to our natural skills and abilities.