Curiosity can strike at any time. And what starts as a casual interest can quickly develop into a steadfast obsession.
Thinking about how an obsession develops, I believe our personalities latch on to something that we value or we want to achieve. It becomes part of a vision of a new identity for ourselves.
But these visions of ours are capricious and fleeting. We only ever end up pursuing things for long enough if it comes naturally. It’s about an authentic personal pursuit – something we would devote our time to if no one else knew and no one else ever found out.
Take martial arts for example. 99% of the people who say they want to try Jiu Jitsu never do. And the 1% who do, 99% of them don’t make it to the most advanced level of black belt. This is all fine and no judgement here. If you think of any one activity, chances are that the vast majority of the World never pursues it, much less ever masters it. We’re finite creatures and should only exert energy in the most beneficial directions.
Anyways, the resolve for achieving mastery does not come from our initial dream. This is a catalyst that gets us started. It kicks off a personal search for inherent and self-evident value in said pursuit. Until this is discovered from within, until it’s pursuit for pursuit’s sake, a clock counts down toward drop-out. We can only prop ourselves up with external motivation for so long.
