The 21st-Century Human Still Living in the Jungle – ElPropósito3 min de lectura

Get out, learn to live in it, or find out what lies beyond the jungle?

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The world and the opportunities it offers are two limitless resources, and they’re always on our side. The energy we bring as we move through life decides whether we make the most of them or simply let them go to waste.

Reading Ray Dalio’s Principles, one passage stayed with me: "Imagine that in order to have a great life you have to cross a dangerous jungle. You can stay safe where you are and have an ordinary life, or you can risk crossing the jungle to have a terrific life. How would you approach that choice?"

It struck me that for all our technology, big cities and modern transportation, we still live in a jungle. We have to learn to live with and get around all kinds of obstacles: the uncertainty and complexity of global markets, our countries’ domestic and foreign politics, job instability and more. Just like in the jungle, there are all kinds of resources and also all kinds of dangers. Opportunities or obstacles?

Here are a few resources I’ve adopted and practiced over the years, which I now see are my main source of energy:

• Compass, north: however thick the jungle, however little sun gets through and however little you can see, there’s always a north on this earth, and the compass or GPS that sets our course is inside us
• Aspirations and goals: do we want to get out of the jungle? Learn to live in it? Find out what lies beyond it? There are probably more jungles and more obstacles (or opportunities). I don’t think standing still is an option. It isn’t in our nature
• Passion and perseverance: once we’ve chosen to explore the jungle, passion and perseverance, beyond our talent, are the endless source of energy and positivity we can count on. I recommend Angela Duckworth’s book Grit. At the end of the day, perseverance is one of the many keys
• Quality relationships: this includes my family and friends. I’ve tried to share my big ideas, plans and choices with them, with the humility to accept their observations and advice, keeping in mind that "feedback is a gift." Whatever jungle I’m crossing, there’s a 99% chance someone in my family or circle of friends has been somewhere similar, and just as good a chance of getting the best advice for free to fine-tune my course

What’s your jungle like? How many have you explored? Do you feel you live in one? What strategies have you learned to seize the opportunities it’s given you over the years? What have you turned your jungles into?

A big hug and all the best,

Rodrigo Baccaro

P.S. The book I’ll be reading this week, and I invite you to join me: Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman

"Our potential is one thing. What we do with it is quite another." Angela Duckworth, Grit

Angela Duckworth. Libro GRIT

Author: Rodrigo Baccaro

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