One architect in ancient Athens used 9 words to prove his worth.
9 words?
That seems lazy. Especially in ancient Athens, where people enjoyed long and beautiful speeches.
And this guy seemed like an oddball.
The competing architect who presented before him gave a long and eloquent speech, which the crowd loved.
Yet, when the lazy architect came for his presentation, he uttered these 9 words: "Gentlemen of Athens: what he said, I will do."
And the lazy architect won the job.
How?
The competing architect wrote his speech to impress the crowd. In contrast, the lazy/winning architect created his speech for the decision-makers.
And those judges valued conciseness more than any eloquence.
That lazy architect probably had a full-blown presentation.
But he noticed the judges' slight disapproval of the long speech. So, he adapted to make the most of the situation's dynamic.
To get the most out of life, we must recognize the dynamics of our situations.
What is the dynamic of a situation?
I'm not going to lie; it's hard to explain, but I'll take a stab. The dynamics of the situation are how the situation plays itself out with all the random factors at play.
With more experience and wisdom, you will be able to grasp the dynamics of a situation quickly.
For instance, in sales, I can quickly grasp how a client will be within minutes of conversing with them. As the sales call plays itself out, I am able to adapt and act according to the dynamics of the sales call.
If I deal with a know-it-all, I will flatter them
If I deal with a hesitant person, I will encourage them
If I deal with a tech-savvy client, I will give them a demo.
Obviously, there are more. But you get the idea.
In case you don't, here is Gracian to strengthen your understanding
"Size up fortune, to know when to act and when to commit yourself. This is more important than observing your dominant humour, for if someone at forty asking Hippocrates for health is a fool, more so someone asking Seneca for good sense. It's a great art to know how to govern fortune, whether waiting for it, for it can make you wait, or whilst enjoying it, for it can smile upon you – though you can never grasp its ways, so anomalous are its actions. Whoever sees fortune smiling should proceed confidently, for it often favours the brave, and even, like a vivacious woman, the young. If you're unlucky, don't act, but withdraw and don't allow your misfortune to be doubled. But if you're in control of it, then press on." Baltasar Gracián
The best part about understanding the dynamics of a situation is that anybody can get better at it.
How?
By these three general rules:
Basics
Consistently putting yourself out there
Reflecting to enrich your intuition
The Basics
First things first, you have to promise yourself that you will exercise your courageous muscles. To live a good life, you need to be courageous, and that involves being brave during risky moments. It's in those risky moments that you will realize that courage can take you far, allowing you to open yourself more to other experiences and opportunities in life.
Keep in mind
You don't have to be perfect with the basics. You will get a lot farther by being average but consistently applying them.
"The ability to make good use of average talents is an art that extorts respect, and often wins more repute than real merit does." François de La Rochefoucauld
Another basic is your social skills.
Get better at speaking with strangers, where you don't feel uncomfortable chatting with most people. Be a great listener, where people will feel heard and know you are worth interacting with.
Consistently putting yourself out there.
Once you have the basics down, you must put yourself out there. That means doing things or attending social events when you don't feel like it.
I know this sounds like a drag.
But how can we expect to get the most out of life without engaging with the world?
Some people don't go out and don't take action. Then, they are dumbfounded when they are not happy with their lives.
"Despite all this we habitually live, out of stupidity, with our attention on others rather than on ourselves." Plutarch
Make a promise to yourself to be out in the world more.
Maybe that's ensuring you go to one social activity per week. Or perhaps that involves laying 5 bricks of social contacts when going out. Even creating a get-together yourself.
You get the idea.
Now, this will seem like a lot of effort, and it is. However, as you take action and engage with the world, you will learn and gain interesting experiences.
This will be driven by trial and error.
Yes, you will make mistakes, humiliate yourself, or fail. But that's okay since you will be using the third general rule.
Self-Reflection
After you have learned the basics and put yourself out there, you will reflect on them periodically.
You will see how you did well and did not.
You will see how certain factors affected the situation
You will see how you can do better in similar situations.
"If awareness of progress and improvement is removed, the very possibility of progress is removed." Plutarch
The more of life you live and reflect on, the more you will enrich your intuition, making you much better at capitalizing on the dynamics of situations and life in general.
Here's a thought you might have: Can I read books that capitalize on a situation's dynamics?
Simple answer: No.
Long answer
Reading a book to better understand life is like studying a dead body to understand life.
Books are helpful.
But they are there to assist you. The best way to learn and develop your intelligence and wisdom is to go out into the world, take action, and get dirty.
"Learning does not make one learned: there are those who have knowledge and those who have understanding. The first requires memory, the second philosophy.' 'But can't one learn philosophy?' 'Philosophy cannot be taught. Philosophy is the union of all acquired knowledge and the genius that applies it: philosophy is the shining cloud upon which Christ set His foot to go up into heaven.'"The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
You need to create a life philosophy based on the basics I mentioned. Go out into the world.
Learn from it.
Life will give you lessons, but you are shunning them.
"The tripod that supported the framework of Bushido was said to be Chi, Jin, Yu, respectively Wisdom, Benevolence, and Courage. A samurai was essentially a man of action." Inazo O. Nitobe
Being a man of action is not only resorted to being a samurai. It's for people who want to get the most out of life.
Speaking of samurai, the greatest samurai, Musashi, could read the dynamics of his single combats before they even started. This came from being courageous, living life to enrich his samurai experience and constant reflection.
It's no fluke.
He was considered a saint with the sword. But Musashi wsa human.
"Dantès needed only to be encouraged by example. Anything that another man had done or could have done, Dantès would do." The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
We, too, only need to be encouraged by the countless human examples who have shown us how to get the most out of life.
That being said, most don't and, in fact, get the least out of life. This can be attributable to a simple mistake.
Mistake
Sometimes, when we taste a bit of success, we feel good about ourselves and feel we can slack off.
Next thing you know, you stop practising those three general rules of life. After some time, you have a hard time reading and taking advantage of the dynamics of situations.
Just because you get a little bit of success does not mean you have that wisdom and intuition per se. It's only there when you take action and engage with life.
Man is meant to be a creature of action.
So don't get too lax with yourself. Keep moving forward with time, forever enriching yourself.
"Never lose your self-respect. Even when alone, don't be too lax with yourself. Let your own integrity be the measure of your rectitude; owe more to the severity of your own opinion than to external rules. Stop yourself doing something improper more through fear of your own good sense than of some stern external authority. Stand in fear of yourself and you will have no need of Seneca's imaginary tutor." Baltasar Gracián
Summary
The dynamics of the situation are how the situation plays itself out with all the random factors at play.
Getting better at understanding the dynamics of a situation through three ways:
Basics
Consistently putting yourself out there
Reflecting to enrich your intuition
Reading books alone can't help you read a situation's dynamic. You have to engage with the world, take risks, etc. Books will supplement your personal experience.
Musashi is one of the prime examples of a man who was able to read the dynamics of his battles long before they started. He consistently applied the three rules in his life.
After a little bit of success, don't get complacent. It's easy to lose that intuition when reading dynamics. Commit to the three ways consistently, and you will continually get better at reading the dynamics of situations.
Life is a dynamic all on its own.
It's not stagnant or straightforward, so we have to be proper in dealing with it. We have to be like Sun Tzu's Skilled Warrior.
"The Skillful Warrior's energy is
Devasting;
His timing,
Taut
His energy is like
A drawn crossbow
His timing like
The release of a trigger." Sun Tzu
If we follow those three general rules, our timing and energy will help us get the most out of life. In each situation, whether it's social, dating, business, or career, we will recognize the dynamic and make the most of it.
And who knows?
Maybe we can read a situation's dynamic correctly and score a big win with nine words or fewer ourselves.
Until next time,
Bulcha
The Charismatic Nerd
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