Reflections inspired by everyday life: meaningful conversations, memorable quotes, everyday moments, and the questions that continue to shape my perspective on purpose, growth, and peace.
Growth That Transfers
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In the TV show, The Bear, there is a scene that stuck with me. Marcus, an aspiring baker, travels to Copenhagen to learn from a world-class chef, chef Luca. Marcus asks chef Luca, “How did you get so good?” Chef Luca responds, “I think at a certain stage it becomes less about skill and it’s more about being open… to the world, to yourself, to other people… you can spend all the time in the world in here, but if you don’t spend enough time out there…” What could make a world-class chef realize that practicing his craft can only take him so far? Skill can make us better at what we do. But character makes us better wherever we go. We tend to think about growth vertically in one category. If we dedicate more time to one thing and do it over and over, we eventually become great at it. While practice and repetition are important, there comes a time when some of our most important growth actually comes horizontally from other places in our lives. We learn something in one part of our lives and carry it with us into another. Learning to play tennis taught me patience. I learned to become a beginner again. I was bad at it. I stayed curious and kept trying it anyway. That same patience I developed from tennis has been used when I learned new workflows in my career as a pharmacist. The communication skills I developed as a pharmacist didn’t stay at work either. I use them when meeting new people, when my wife and I communicate, solve problems, or work on a project together. The skills travel with us. Maybe that is what Luca meant. You can spend time getting better at what you do “in here.” But eventually, becoming better at your craft requires more of experiencing what is “out there.” Growth doesn’t have to stay in one role or part of your life. It’s not always about being better at what you do, it can be being better in who you are. Practice develops the skill. Experience develops the person. The person then could bring everything they have learned back to the skill. What kind of growth has transferred to multiple parts of your life? Until next time, Ryan |
Better Questions
Reflections inspired by everyday life: meaningful conversations, memorable quotes, everyday moments, and the questions that continue to shape my perspective on purpose, growth, and peace.
I used to watch Gordon Ramsey’s cooking shows quite a bit. There is one moment from an episode that still makes me laugh. A chef was preparing a dish with pork as the main ingredient. When Gordon came over to check on the chef, the chef was going into deep detail on how he was preparing the vegetables on the side. He was so focused on explaining the side dish that he was neglecting the main part of the meal. In classic Gordon Ramsey fashion, he interrupted and said, “The hero is the pork!” As...
There is a well-known illustrated book written by Charlie Mackesy titled, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. Most pages have just one sentence, but the story is filled with lessons. While walking on his journey, the boy says to his friends, “Imagine how we would be if we were less afraid.” The mole responded, “Most of the old moles I know wish they'd listened less to their fears and more to their dreams.” Of the many lessons in this book, this is one that stuck with me most. Instead of...
Who am I becoming? What deserves my attention today? What do others think of me? When will I finally feel like I have enough? What truly matters? Some are conscious. Others are so familiar we no longer notice them. Some we choose. Others we quietly inherited. Whether we realize it or not, the questions we repeatedly ask influence what we notice, how we interpret the world, the decisions we make, and ultimately, the life we build. Together, we will explore the questions that quietly shape our...