Thread by @Camp4

🔥Hot Take: Society celebrates people who are wildly successful in one thing, but the most satisfied people are *multi-dimensional*.

👉This means they strive for success in multiple unrelated pursuits.

Elon Musk has said...

👇

...that being obsessed with your work is the only way to change the world but it’s a tormented existence, not a path to happiness. You see this all the time in the business world. Some of the most “successful” people are unhappy and frankly, uninteresting🥱

A quick story:

Not long ago, I had an unexpected (and awkward) chat with a high profile billionaire - let’s call him Greg. Greg has it all: Private jets, pro sports teams, & connections to society’s elites. I knew that Greg, like me, was a climber 🧗‍♂️ so that was the topic.

As climbers tend to do, we sized each other up by humblebragging about our adventures. As we chatted, I had an epiphany: Climbing - and similar pursuits, athletic or otherwise - are the great equalizer.

🏔 To put it bluntly: The mountains don’t give a 💩 who you are.

🏔’s are indifferent to wealth, status, and even twitter follower count 😱. Money can buy the best equipment but it can’t buy a summit - everyone, rich or poor, has to earn it the same way.

I couldn’t resist asking Greg, “Do you like that the mountains don’t care who you are?”

I was hoping for a glimpse of vulnerability - was climbing was an escape from Greg’s billionaire lifestyle or part of it? He didn’t take the bait & I got the sense that to Greg, climbing was just a summit photo, another trophy on the wall. He was missing the point, which is...

👉We all *need* that thing that strips us of our identity. Something outside of our career, where money isn’t the currency.

Something pointless and pure, that we do simply because we love it.

For me it’s rock climbing. For you it could be fishing, Fortnite, guitar, or whatever turns you on. These pursuits keeps us grounded, provide a refuge from the daily grind, and most importantly, expose us to a different community beyond our echo chamber.

It also provides a regular reminder that *some of life’s best experiences cost nothing*.

These pursuits make us multi-dimensional so that our identity & happiness isn’t based on one thing.

This is especially important when the chips are down in one area of life.

We all have bad days at work & personal problems, but the worst day spent [INSERT YOUR PURSUIT] is still pretty good!

To be clear, I’m not talking about a hobby. I don’t like that word because it implies secondary importance, something you dabble in when you have free time.

I’m talking about a passion that competes for time with top priorities like work & family. Paradoxically this conflict tends to result in *more* balance & productivity due to a synergistic effect. This is esp true in creative work, where inspiration comes from unexpected places.

Here’s the sad thing:

Most people *aren’t* multi-dimensional. For 15 years, in every interview, I’ve asked candidates, ‘What do you like to do when you’re not working?’. To my dismay, about 70% struggle to answer, usually reverting to some version of ‘spend time with family’.

Wrong answer. Yes, we all love our families. Some of us enjoy our work. But is that all there is to you?

Conversely, the best candidates begin their answer with, ‘Where do I start?’.

I say “best candidates” because my observation has been that multi-dimensional people perform better and more importantly are *a hell of a lot more fun to be around*.

Are you multi-dimensional? If not, this might be something to medicate upon.

MEDITATE, not medicate. @jack, can we please get an edit button?