Thread by @Camp4

🎯Self-awareness: Your Secret Weapon

A young man once asked Mozart how to write a symphony.

Mozart told the man he was too young & should study more.

The man responded, "But you were writing symphonies at age 10."

Mozart: "Yes but I wasn't asking people how to do it."

🧵👇

Elon Musk said something similar of entrepreneurship:

"If you have to ask it's not for you."

Ouch.

We all have dreams & aspirations and there's nothing wrong with that.

Buuut...

👉If you haven't taken action you should ask yourself *why*.

As Mozart & Musk implied, those who *do* don't wait for approval or instructions. They bias toward action, jumping in without all the answers or expertise... because that's the best way to acquire those things.

A famous screenwriter was once asked how to write a great movie script.

Her response: "First write 100 bad scripts."

The best writers don’t wait for an epiphany… they just start writing. In fact, they can't *not* write because it's who they are.

Dreams without action become delusion so it's important to observe your own actions & face some hard truths. If you haven’t taken action on something…

🤔Maybe you don't really care about it as much as you think

🤔Maybe you don't have what it takes for this particular thing

This level of introspection & critique may sound harsh but recognizing the truth—even if it's painful—is actually liberating.

👉Self-awareness is a secret weapon.

It releases you from the burden of unmet expectations so that you can pursue dreams that are aligned with *who you really are*—and just as importantly *who you aren't*.

I'll make it personal...

Like everyone, I have strengths & weaknesses. I’m a creative type so I’m good at seeing opportunities & connections, defining a vision and building things from scratch. I love working with a blank canvas & lots of uncertainty—things that make some people cringe.

But…

I’m not so good at the operational side of things, getting the million little details just right & following all the rules (I’m an off-the-📈 Enneagram 8). I can do details in short bursts but I’ll never be great at it.

In fact, I often say half-jokingly that if I’m put in charge of a company’s ops it will be out of business in 6 months 🤣

Early in my career I fought this & tried to be good at everything. I spent many years trying to “push the rope”.

Eventually I realized something important:

👉You’ll get a 10X higher return by doubling down on your strengths rather than trying to force-fix your weaknesses.

Pull the rope, don’t push it.

Now—25 years into my career—I know who I am and, equally importantly, who I’m not.

I use that self-awareness to stack the deck heavily in my favor:

✅I choose projects & roles that are a great fit
✅I know exactly who to surround myself with
✅I have the discipline to say no to situations where I won't crush it

The last one can be the hardest. Here's an example:

I recently turned down a lucrative advisor role at a 🚀 startup. I like the company & founder a lot but I realized that I didn't care about it enough to meet the expectations of the founder or myself.

Anyone can use this framework to become more effective.

🔑 The unlock is to let your actions be your guide—observe the areas where you excel effortlessly and also the things that feel like a forced march.

We tend to naturally do the things we’re good at & enjoy without even thinking about it. Like the famous screenwriter, we can’t *not* do those things.

Double down on those things, be aware of who you're not, & turn self-awareness into your secret weapon!

🤙 Thanks for reading—if you liked this please give it a RT!