A Mason's Work

[00:00] All right, so we went through this process to deconstruct our own sort of transmutation of gold into lead by turning ambition and desire into gratitude, into a false gratitude that's not really appreciation, but a kind of virtue signaling that we use to essentially commiserate with our colleagues.
[00:20] Okay. Now, again, we're walking through the mechanics of a scenario, and it's one that I experienced at one point in my life. When we start to talk about this for your situation, obviously yours might be wrapped up in a completely different set of causes and effects, and that's okay.
[00:39] But if you're like me, then there's a good chance that what we've been talking about all week is this understanding that oftentimes we create these responses that look wholesome and are essentially masking an underlying discomfort.
[00:58] And in masking that discomfort through this wholesome lens, we justify inaction.
[01:03] This is a super common thing, I think, for people to do.
[01:10] And as we work to deconstruct it and figure out how to respond to it, we have to be able to call these things as they are.
[01:18] When we have these challenging beliefs, we will activate the cable toe, and we'll use the cable toe to constrain our behavior.
[01:29] We'll say things, these limiting beliefs like, I'm not the kind of person who can have a beach house, or I'm not the kind of person who can write a book, or I'm not the kind of person who can have a really fancy car.
[01:47] And when we use our cable toe in conjunction with this virtue signaling kind of stuff, we are weaponizing these processes against ourself.
[01:57] So how can we deal?
[02:01] How can we take this discomfort and turn it into action that's not paralytic, that doesn't turn into false virtue?
[02:08] It turns into something that is what we probably would consider to be real virtue.
[02:13] And the simple thing to do is once you've named the gap, I've identified what it is that you're trying to solve.
[02:23] Like, hey, this person has this nice thing.
[02:27] I would like to experience this nice thing, or have this nice thing.
[02:33] Put parameters around it.
[02:37] Change the conversation.
[02:39] Wow, that is really nice.
[02:41] I've always dreamed of a house up in the mountains by the lake.
[02:46] Or have I've always dreamed of a really nice car.
[02:50] Maybe you can do a trial balloon.
[02:54] You can send up a little signal to see what that looks like.
[02:59] Maybe instead of immediately going to, you know, doubling down on your work and trying to find enough money to afford some of these things,
[03:07] or doubling down on your relationships so you get to that rock star level of I enter the room,
[03:13] maybe you can try and dip your toe in some of these experiences.
[03:17] Maybe you can go rent the beach house for a weekend.
[03:21] Maybe you can try and drive your friend's fast car.
[03:24] And see if that's something you really want.
[03:28] Because sometimes when we see things that other people have, we think we want them and we don't.
[03:35] And again, we activate all of the tools we have at our disposal to justify inaction.
[03:43] But if you break it down, big rocks into small rocks.
[03:48] Take the smallest possible action towards that step.
[03:53] Towards that objective.
[03:54] Towards that experience.
[03:56] Maybe even having the experience directly without having to go through all of the stuff to get it.
[04:01] Like, again, renting the beach house.
[04:05] There is few things nicer than having a beach house.
[04:09] And it's having someone else's beach house that you don't have to clean.
[04:14] So when you start to look at things like this, and you play with these experiences and begin to sit in some of these discomforts,
[04:23] you realize in a lot of ways just how kind of fictitious they really are.
[04:27] How the mind creates these false beliefs and behaviors.
[04:31] I'm not, you know, it's more virtuous for me to have less.
[04:35] Or it's more virtuous for me to not do this or not do that.
[04:40] Not appear opportunist.
[04:42] Not appear maybe, you know, like we have these grand designs and objectives, right?
[04:49] Maybe aspirational kind of stuff is virtuous in its own way.
[04:56] And maybe if we try and pursue some of these things we gloss over and translate into more socially acceptable prisons,
[05:07] maybe you'll stop feeling them to begin with.
[05:14] Maybe you'll be able to turn these signals that your body's providing into the fuel you need to start one small step.
[05:22] Think about it.