“The worst pain a man can suffer: to have insight into much and power over nothing.”
― Herodotus
Horodotus was an ancient Greek historian (c. 484 BC – c. 425 BC), and is considered to be the first person to record history with a systematic rigor and emphasis on what really happened; not just oral traditions.
When he wrote about the worst pain possible, he was talking about seeing into history and having no ability to change what has already happened.
To see all the causes & effects laid out from all angels, and have a complete understanding of how it could all be avoided. . . but nothing can be done.
This pain is behind every time travel movie in existence, right?
There’s a common expression that points to this, too:
“Hindsight is 20/20”
It means that you have perfect vision when you look back at an event, relationship, situation, or whatever it is that you wish you could have changed but it’s always after the fact.
20/20 Now
What if you could see everything correctly, as it happens? What if you knew what to avoid. What to chase. What to say yes to. What to say no to.
Who to say no to.
What would that do for your life?
Skills to Pay the Bills
Even if you did have Perfect Sight™ of 20/20, it would be useless if you couldn’t do anything with the information.
If your skills aren’t a match to your perception, you’re no better than any other oblivious person going about their day.
You have to have the combination of both: right perception & right skills.
If you’re missing either of those, you will always be relegated to the most torturous pain imaginable.
Hard-Won Skill
How do you get these incredibly precious skills? Hard work.
This is kung fu.
Literally.
Kung fu originally means “a high degree of skill acquired only after years of consistent, dedicated, hard work.
It’s the skill component that will separate you from the herd of arm-chair historians, Sunday afternoon quarterbacks, and other people who think regurgitating someone else’s opinion counts as creativity.
Want to get started? Check out our proprietary training system that will get you moving in the right direction.