UCWG 032: When Does Personal Development Evolve into Interpersonal Development?

Uncomfortable Conversations with Gregory

Our culture loves telling the story of one man taking on the world, working hard to do everything for himself. We build our movies and our myths around this archetype, and then unconsciously model it in our own lives. Useful as this type of path is, and even a necessary starting step, what comes next in the heroic journey?

The lone warrior must eventually learn how to deal with other people. He must form a tribe of ideas and perspectives that complement his own. He must be humble enough to know that however capable he is on his own, he will be more capable with the help of others. This humility only comes after he has earned healthy pride.

Parker Harris runs Junto Global, a networking organization for high-performing, high-ambition entrepreneurs dedicated to creating massive change in their lives and the world. Inspired by Benjamin Franklin’s meetings about 12 of his most respected and intelligent peers, Junto aims to enable individuals to act beyond their solo potential. This is a step that many capable individuals never reach in their development.

Education was once about helping people figure who they are, what they care about, and how to think about life. Today, it primarily serves to get the members of a society to act in a way that is considered in line with cultural and social values. We no longer need centralized schooling models to learn basic survival skills, as survival is now more nuanced and varied than any single path could ever adequately cover.

Foremost, children need to learn how to communicate harmoniously and interact with one another.

When young people first realize that they have never made their own choices, they move into an individualist, “me vs. the world”, state of mind to find themselves in solitude on their own personal journey. They perceive collective thinking as the enemy.

Mental traumas are often the result of thinking we are something other than what we are. Accurate thinking is the solution to this needless suffering. Exceptional people are prone to numbing themselves to the problems of society because they are hypersensitive to chaos and suffering. If they don’t learn to focus on the problems and passions that are most important to them, they might waste their lives and suffer needlessly until they die.

Our lives are determined by the quality of the questions we ask and the problems we attempts to solve.

You cannot know yourself completely if you come from either end of the suffering spectrum: abundance of everything or lack of anything. You need to see how you act under both conditions to see what you are capable of, and then comfortably navigate throughout the middle.

Your ability to experience deep suffering directly affects your ability to experience deep joy and fulfillment. You are more grounded in your pursuits when you have suffered, more dedicated, and more focused. You appreciate every win.

Delayed gratification is a product of maturity. Mature, well-tested people can look far into the future with their actions and go through tough trials that eventually lead to greater reward. Immature people have no tolerance for such trials.

The ability to accomplish what you want is dependent on first having the right experiences, acquiring the right tools, and meeting the right people.

“It’s not what you don’t know that’s going to hurt you. It’s what you know that isn’t so.”

Mark Twain

Things mentioned:

Junto Global: http://getstarted.juntoglobal.com/

UCWG 031: Do You Dare To Follow Your Hero’s Journey to Find Self-Actualization? Life Purpose As The Highest Priority With Leo Gura of Actualized.org - https://gregorydiehl.net/ucwg-031-heros-journey-self-actualization-life-purpose-highest-priority-leo-gura-actualized-org/

UCWG 029: How do Neuroatypicals Function in an Ordinary Society? Low Latent Inhibition, Divergent Thinking, and the Problem of Social Integration. - https://gregorydiehl.net/ucwg-029-natalie-marsh-neuroatypicals-society-low-latent-inhibition-lli-divergent-thinking-social-integration/