Something’s Gotta Give #39: Moving on

In the old days, when hydraulic wheels weren’t omnipresent, being on the move while in your vehicle, or being stationary, made a world of difference. And the reason was none other than the fact that while stationary, it took a disproportionately larger amount of strength to turn.

I think I have mentioned in a previous post (after two years of weekly blog posts, there’s so much uploaded content, that I can’t remember everything) a friend of mine who claims to be a dentist. I say “claims to be” because this is what he studied, but in almost 10 years now, he hasn’t practiced it in the slightest. He claims to still be looking for ways to open his own clinic, but I think that even if he had the money, he still wouldn’t do it. And that’s because starting again from zero after all these years of not having the slightest contact with dentistry (he didn’t try to stay up to date with developments in the profession) would take a disproportionately large amount of effort. It is easier to turn a car when it’s on the move…

In an age when most of us suffer from information overload, being busy at work isn’t a big deal. That’s, in fact, taken for granted. Busy doesn’t mean valuable. The valuable mind is the creative mind. But in order to stay creative, you have to constantly sharpen your creative skills. Otherwise it will take a disproportionately large effort to overcome your inertia – Which is why you have to do whatever possible to just keep moving on. To be continuously challenged. (And that is not the same thing as merely being under pressure.)

On the other hand, while being on the move, inertia makes turning easier. But if you are going too fast, you won’t be able to turn towards where you need to go, because you are so busy just going forward. (Until you hit a wall and stop in a really ugly way.)

Moral of the story: Make sure you sharpen your skills. But don’t go sharpening the same thing over and over again. Because that becomes so easy after a certain point, that you are losing all creative elements of your work and are just being kept busy.