Project 10k - Day 50

Repetition

If you need to do something for the first time, it will be challenging in almost every dimension. As you stand at the start point in this timeline, you stare into the abyss of maximum uncertainty. You may not even be aware of what you don’t know. You can’t see around the bend, you don’t even know there is a bend. Rest easy knowing that no one in starting position knows what’s ahead.

Once you’ve done it, whatever it is, your world will have permanently changed. A previously unknown skill or activity in your brain has been discovered.

I compare it to the map in games like Pokemon. The map starts out grey with no detail but as you visit new places they start to show up on your map and eventually your Pokemon can use Fly to take you back to any place that you’ve been before.

The first time you do something hard and important comes with a wave of emotion that is unparalleled. Future repetitions you perform seeking to get the tiniest taste of that original feeling tend to fall short. No matter how hard you try, there’s nothing like the first. Novelty is unique and worth cherishing. My limited understanding of biology would lead me to believe that a biological signal so strong that it drove our ancestors to new lands, new technologies, and new ideas through unimaginable hardship is not something to be glossed over.

Ultimately, our success in our individual lives, and that as a species comes down to the fine balance between novelty and repetition. The tradeoffs we make between exploration and exploitation have come to define our personalities and to some extent the resulting outcomes.

Cheers to 50 repetitions and good luck in all of yours!