Everyone has a favorite movie, one they’ve seen 27 times. You can almost recite every line from the movie at this point. You know the entire plot, have a good understanding of each character, and how the movie ends. So what is the point of watching it over and over again? In order to fully understand a movie, or anything you cannot watch or experience it just one time.
The reason why we watch certain movies or read certain books many times over is because you see something new each time. Every time you notice things that you previously never noticed. New themes, underlying messages, and sides to each of the characters. It is the same thing with friends. No matter how long we have known someone, we continue to learn new things about them and see different sides of their personality. The more we are around something the more we understand about it. We can only do this by going deep, not wide.
Instead of jumping from one thing to another, we should be opting for depth of experience. Going deep allows us to see something new each time in a movie, book, another human, or anything we experience. We don’t get to see these additional aspects by only grazing the surface level. The problem is our attention spans are too short. We constantly need a new stimulant. We get easily bored and always need something new to keep our minds engaged. This prevents us from missing out on so much valuable insight and information. Understand that your constant need for something new is only wasting your time.
Overstimulation is like the busy work you did in school. Busy work doesn’t teach you or help you learn anything insightful. It is simply meant to keep you busy so you don’t become distracted. But you are not actually gaining anything this way. It is not about just staying busy, but being fulfilled. If you don’t ever feel fulfilled you will constantly be in search of something new to keep you busy.
Depth over width:
If you are just watching movie after movie or jumping from one relationship to another you are only hurting yourself. You aren’t actually learning anything, you just need something to keep you busy. Understanding cannot be cultivated this way. When you are studying for a test, you cannot just study the material once and know everything about it. You have to go deep so you can internalize the information and understand it. Depth of experience allows you to see connections you wouldn’t be able to see after just one experience.
When you jump from one thing to another you lose all meaning and connection. Say you are trying to add a new skill. If you jump from skill to skill, you really end up not learning anything. You are only left with a surface level understanding of the skills. You haven’t gone deep enough to actually become good at any of the skills. It is impossible to ever be satisfied. There is no meaning in jumping from one thing to another. You aren’t actually gaining anything. This only brings on overstimulation. When you try to be the master of everything, you really become the master of nothing. True understanding can only come from going deep.
Think about depth of experience like a sponge full of water. Jumping from one thing to another is like squeezing the sponge just one time. Some water will come out, but most of the water will still be soaked in the sponge. Depth of experience is like squeezing the sponge until all the water comes out. Depth of experience allows you to get the absolute most out of whatever you are doing. It allows you to feel enriched and deeply satisfied. These feelings are nearly impossible to receive when you go from one thing to another.
In order to get the most out of each experience, it requires more thought and mindfulness. You have to be intentional about why you are doing what you’re doing and what you want to get out of it. This way you can be more present in your experiences. Having a purpose allows you to find more meaning in your experiences. Jumping from one thing to another can force you lose sight of why you’re even doing it in the first place. You aren’t actually looking for meaning, you just need something to stimulate your mind. It turns you into a junkie, who just needs another fix. Depth of experience keeps you engaged and focused on each experience as you go through it.
Find something that really interests you. It could be a particular subject, industry, or skill. When you are trying to learn it spend quality time with it. If it is a book, read it more than once. Highlight certain parts of the text that you want to reflect on or explore deeper. This allows you to have a better understanding and increased perspective. Strive for fullfillment and squeezing the most out of each expereince.
The Rolling J / Jonathan McClure
Previous J of the Day – https://therollingj.net/j-of-the-day-dont-let-next-year-become-never/
LinkedIn Profile – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-mcclure-0594aa17b/
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It almost felt like you were talking to me here Jonathan, so very profound article. I really enjoyed it. 😊
The is an audio tape by Tony Robbins that resonate with this here, and it taught me not only that making a decision is one of the controlling force in life but we can learn more if only we could take instead decision and let life be without ever having to question oursleves about our true being.
Thank you! And yes absolutely. So often when we make decisions we think about them long after whether it was the right choice or not. It is important to learn how to live with your decisions and not let them affect your future decisions.
Thank you ! And yes absolutely, it is important for us to learn how to live with our decisions and not think about whether it was the right or wrong decision. When we accept the consequences of our decisions, we become less fearful of making them.
Fascinating blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A theme like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog shine. Please let me know where you got your theme. Thank you
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