Instead of Jealousy, Become a Student

T. K. Coleman writes:

Have you ever met someone who seems to have it easy?

What if, instead of automatically dismissing them as a lucky person who gets all the breaks, you considered the possibility, however slight, that their ease was the product of superior efficiency, superior stress-management skills, superior competency, superior networking, superior study habits, etc.?

In other words, what if you cultivated the practice of looking at yourself as an ever evolving entity who always has something to learn from the people around them?

This wont always be true, but you have a much better chance at developing your full potential if you learn from the people who are getting better results than you, as opposed to just assuming that the Universe likes them more than everyone else.

Sometimes, when we conclude that life is uniquely and insurmountably tough for us, that’s just another way of saying “I have nothing to learn. I have no need for improvements. I’m doing everything perfectly and all my difficulties are solely the result of life’s intrinsic unfairness towards me.”

Even if that’s how it really seems, that’s not the kind of perspective that’s going to take you anywhere worth going.

Very good advice.

Skyler.

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Founder and editor of Everything-Voluntary.com and UnschoolingDads.com, Skyler is a husband and unschooling father of three beautiful children. His writings include the column series “One Voluntaryist’s Perspective” and “One Improved Unit,” and blog series “Two Cents“. Skyler also wrote the books No Hitting! and Toward a Free Society, and edited the books Everything Voluntary and Unschooling Dads. You can hear Skyler chatting away on his podcasts, Everything Voluntary and Thinking & Doing.