It's all on you

The world around us is far more complex than we can possibly imagine. With our limited senses and consciousness, we can only glimpse a small portion of reality. Furthermore, everything in the universe is in a state of constant flux. Simple words and thoughts cannot capture this flux or complexity. The only solution for an enlightened person is to let the mind absorb itself in what it experiences, without having to form a judgement on what it all means. The mind must be able to feel doubt and uncertainty for as long as possible. As it remains in this state and probes deeply into the mysteries the universe, ideas will come that are more dimensional and real than if we had jumped to conclusions and formed judgments early on.

-- Robert Greene

We like to think that there are secrets out there that once discovered, will cause us to become successful. Or that we need to read a magic book that will tell us all of life’s secrets. Or maybe we need to find the right mentor, and he will reveal the path to success. This is not true.

Reality is vast in comparison to our very limited abilities to perceive and interact with it. We can only focus on a tiny sliver of it for a short time. Although this has allowed some of us to discover remarkable things about how it works and how to interact with it, words cannot really convey the human experience.

So if you want to learn something or achieve something great, most of the work is your responsibility. You will have to develop a high level intuition about how to interact with the part of reality you want to alter for your own benefit. To do this you must practice and experiment constantly, and you will get hints about what to do next from your rationality, as well as your emotions. At the end of the process when you reach the status of master, you will possess knowledge that is impossible to communicate through words. But you will have abilities that only you understand and are able to use to create incredible work.

It’s all on you. Greatness must come almost entirely from your work.