Today Seth Godin published an article on his blog titled ‘Winning‘.
At the end of the article he wonders: ‘What happens when you define a win as getting closer to someone who wants the same thing?‘ and
‘What if the win is the ability to give a true gift?‘
Here is my take on it.
The real question at hand is: which of these experiences is the most intense and gives you the most joy:
A. Winning?
B. Contributing to ‘a’ win?
In the first case you have a hormonal boost and a sense of power. Unfortunately, it fades away as quickly as it came. But it is an instant gratification and like any other addiction it feels like there is no other way. Literally ‘a no-brainer’.
In the second case you are contributing to ‘winning happening’. This is the divine part of winning, although there is no instant gratification. Don’t go to a monastery or a church to experience the divine part of winning. Practice it now, when you drive home.
Imagine you are the other driver in traffic and exaggerate in the other sense of your hormonal boost. Not out of containment or fundamentalism, but out of a need to contribute to his/her win.
Notice the grin on your face a few hours later when you look back at your own divine act of contribution. Compare that to the fucked-up feeling of remaining adrenalin from winning a honking and gesticulation debate.
