Judge Less
Your perceptions of the world shape how you interact with it.
The other night, I came across one of the first actually useful AI tools I’ve seen.
What it does is that it scrapes job postings from company websites and databases them, which you can then search according to relevant criteria.
It’s a very cool tool if you’re looking for a new job and don’t want to rely on gated sites like LinkedIn.
In any case, I started looking around, testing different filters.
Then, when I used the 'remote' filter, I noticed that pretty much all the offers were Tech-related. Nothing too surprising there I guess.
The thing is, reading these postings, I was struck at how similar all the language was.
You know what I’m talking about:
"Are you a superhero?"
"Want to work in a fast paced environment?"
"Are you an A-grade team-player?"
And I realised how much this type of language puts me off.
It goes beyond the cliche — all I feel reading it is the memory of pressure and stress.
This is because I’ve seen what that language means in real life.
It means no-one really knowing what to do (nothing wrong with that per say) but — needing to deliver results to the higher ups — inevitably leads to finger-pointing and ass-covering.
You know, office politics.
For better or for worse, that's my perspective on corporate life.
Am I right?
Your perspective is only shared by you
Of course, the truth is corporate life isn’t good or bad — it just is.
It’s my perpective that colors it into what I believe it is. The sum of what I am today is, just like you, biased.
But this got me thinking about a more important implication:
Is my perspective limiting me?
And, if I’m being honest, it most definitely is. It’s stopping me from pursuing any of those offers: I read them, interpret their language and fuse that meaning to past experiences that they don’t necessarily mean.
I’ve emotionally disengaged before even considering the offer. And worse, I’ve laid out this judgement without even realising it.
Beware of your limiting beliefs
My subconscious judgement has slammed a door in my face without me even noticing.
Am I okay with this? Am I content to live within my limiting beliefs?
As I write this, I’m not sure what my answer is.
But what’s clear to me is that, at the heart of all this is, is our capacity for automatic judgement.
As I said, objective reality is neither positive or negative.
But our judgements shape and mold that indifferent reality into our attitudes and beliefs. And we then — and this is critical — funnel back that energy into the world.
If we adopt a closed attitude, we close off opportunities; if we instead step out with an open attitude, we invite them.
And so it isn’t an exaggeration to say that our judgements determine much of where we end up in life: they impact the quality of our relationships, the state of our health, and the success of our careers.
I don’t really have an answer or tips to share because I still have to think this through.
So I’ll finish with something I’m telling myself these days:
Try judging a little less, and see where it takes you.
Hi there 👋
If you made it this far, you might be interested to know how I’m doing growing Seeking Wisdom (this newsletter). This is my version of building in public:
Honestly, the past couple of weeks have been a bit of a chore. For whatever reason, I’ve been less motivated to write. The days fly by and before I know it, it’s time to publish again.
My mistake is that I haven’t been writing every day.
I find that if I do write every day, even if only 100 words, my writing forms much more organically as the week progresses. Leaving it all to one writing session turns it into more of a burden.
It isn’t as fun and doesn’t feel as fulfilling.
I have a gut feeling this is because the bulk of good writing is actually done while away from the page. Good writing comes out of deliberation. From the oscillation between focusing and day-dreaming.
Anyways, lulls in motivation are part of the process! It’ll turn around, provided I keep at it.
In terms of growth, my total weekly view have grown by roughly 10% for the last 3 weeks. That’s a good trend to see! (My thinking is that more views will eventually have a positive effect on other metrics).
That’s it for this week.
Till next time, enjoy your weekend! ☀️🚶➡️🌲
Ben
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