What do your clothes say about you? Fashion, Failure and Friends with opposite views.
Fashion:
Even as a kid, I cared about how I looked or carried myself. In grade 10, my prized possession was this pair of black boat shoes that my grandpa gifted me (Sperry boat shoes, but an English brand I can't remember now). I went to a school with a uniform, but wearing those shoes was my fashion statement, along with a well-made knot on my tie— a perfect triangle instead of a sloppy rope knot. I couldn’t describe it, but I instinctively knew how I dressed mattered.
Well, it turns out it does. Whether you care about how you dress or not, your clothes signal something.
Your clothing tells a story, a narrative about what you care about or where you are trying to fit.
Tech wiz kids who seemingly wear a black T-shirt and trainers signal that they don’t care about clothing. This has become a trend, an outfit, or a uniform for any aspiring tech entrepreneurs because they are signaling that they belong with other more recognized tech entrepreneurs. Hunters, Athletes, Politicians, Professors, and Dads all use a ‘uniform’ to signal where they fit.
What does your clothing say to the world?
Failure
Failure often comes from overthinking one component and ignoring the rest, from ignoring the bigger picture to ignoring other tactical options.
But, the biggest failure is never to try. To be so crippled by the fear of failure that you never attempt it. To retreat cowardly in your 'inner citadel', giving excuses for why it was never going to work or why it doesn’t matter.
It's like someone with a leg injury giving up on healing the wound and instead cutting their leg off and declaring that legs are overrated.
Where are you quitting before trying?
Source: Olympic Table Tennis player and author Mathew Syed on Modern Wisdom Podcast Episode #865
Friends with opposite views
Diversification is a key pillar in investing, and for good reason. It combines opposites in one place to neutralize risk. If US stocks go down, international stocks, gold, or REITS may go up, providing balance.
But what about the thoughts in your head or your core group that influence your thinking? Is your thinking diversified?
Are you surrounded by people who always agree with you (on major things)? If yes, then you are not diversified in your thinking.
Cultivate a circle where you can have strong, heated, passionate, yet civil disagreements about major themes like politics, life philosophy, money, relationships, marriage, etc.
This will help you understand why you believe something and whether it’s time to re-calibrate.
The difference between a good life and a not-so-good life is perspective. The only way to have a productive perspective is by critically examining it, and nothing does that better than a civil discussion with someone with polar opposite views.
The key criteria is NOT to have a debate to justify your beliefs but to be curious about an opposite viewpoint.
Quote I am pondering:
"All buildings are predictions, and all predictions are wrong - Stuart Brand
All buildings are predictions about where stuff will end up but it never does.
Lesson - Design things to be flexible and accommodating. The same applies to life.
Last but not least - 12 Books for Success in EVERY Field of Your Life
Be well.
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