We find what we look for
Men are developed the same way gold is mined. When gold is mined, several tons of dirt must be moved to get an ounce of gold; but one doesn’t go into the mine looking for dirt—one goes in looking for the gold. ― Andrew Carnegie
I’m not sure what to think of Carnegie, robber baron-cum-philanthropist, but his quote feels true to me. We really do get what we look for, whether it is out there in the world and its people, or within ourselves.
This is what I got reminded of when I came across Seth Godin’s post on green flags. More than a century apart, but the idea is the same. In his post, Godin writes:
We were taught to look out for red flags. Little signs that something is wrong, that we should be careful or even turn around. Don’t let that distract you from being on the lookout for green flags. We might need encouragement to leap forward. If you look for the green flags, you’re more likely to find them.
Red flags vs green flags, dirt vs goal, bad vs good. This idea that the quality of our attention shapes the quality of both our subjective and objective experience is one that I feel is important to hold on to.
May we all find what we look for and may those things be the good things.