The Zusha principle of self-development
From the NYT:
The 18th-century Hasidic rabbi Zusha is supposed to have said that when he died and appeared before the heavenly court, they could ask him, “Why were you not as great as Abraham?” and he wouldn’t be afraid; after all, he wasn’t given Abraham’s intellectual gifts. They could ask him, “Why weren’t you Moses?” and he wouldn’t be afraid; he didn’t have Moses’ skills as a leader. The question that frightened him was this: “Why weren’t you Zusha?”
One of the risks of being an ambitious person is it can put you in a horse race to grow into someone else's ideal rather than your own (a race in which you're the horse, not the jockey).
Between the two options of a) aiming to be better than others vs b) aiming to be the best version of yourself, the second option seems completely de-risked.
Imagine you could only choose one of the two options. It's easy to picture being disappointed in the first scenario, in which you're the "best" in a social hierarchy while failing to actualize your personal ideals. But can you picture being disappointed in the second scenario?
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This is an interesting line of thought. I struggle to see how you could be disappointed with being the best version of yourself. Being disappointed comes from something not living up to your expectations. When you are being the best version of yourself, what are your expectations and where do they come from? What does it actually mean / look like to be the best version of yourself? I don’t think you can actually know. If you have this predefined then it is most likely that you are pursuing option 1 and not realizing it. On the journey of being the best version of yourself, you are still discovering yourself. You’ll most likely end up in 10 years thinking ‘How did I get here. I had no idea this was even a path for me, but it feels so right and f*cking awesome.’ Btw, thanks for the newsletter, this question kicked off my Sunday morning nicely
This is great..."the second option seems completely de-risked."
Does anyone have additional thoughts on risk?
Lately, I have been battling back and forth with the pursuit of the rat race in my head. It always feels like a constant race to catch up on lost time from past experiences or efforts, albeit with seemingly increasing risk. Time is opportunity cost.
However, the most rewarding pursuits have always been those driven by passion, where the most important thing is being a better human bean; ideally doing or building something that helps others do the same.
Zusha 🔥
Interesting... Thank you for sharing.
I can easily imagine being disappointed with myself because I am. I know I could have done a lot better (comparing to my own "ideal self") but I've squandered a lot of my blessings.
The question is how to avoid pitfalls on the way to self-development? We are way too often driven by emotions, not by rationality, and then we might do stupid things despite knowing how stupid they are.
Having a role model other than your "ideal self" might help, I guess. Good books help too. Having a decent social circle (including your immediate family) is the best recipe, I guess, but it is easier said than done...
Thought-provoking.... thank you @channingallen
We all have! But ideally you want to channel this disappointment into fuel for the present and the future rather than dwelling too much on the past, which saps your energy.
Yep, this is just how the brain works, and everyone deals with it to some extent. The cognitive scientist John Vervaeke believes the entire project of being human is finding ways to overcome "self-destructive self-deception," and I think he's onto something.
The solution to complex performance challenges is never an individual tactic but rather an entire behavioral system whose results compound over time. Which is vague, I know. But I plan to write a lot more about this kind of thing in future posts.
100%. Inspiration begets aspiration. But there's a fine line between using the ego and being used by the ego.
Thank you Channing; such a thoughtful reply. I really appreciate it. I've heard of John Vervaeke work, but somehow missed this important point. Totally agree with all your insights. Thank you!
The holy Reb Zusha 🙌