Inside : outside :: process : outcome
In The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey talks about productive capacity and sharpening the saw. In Mindset, Carol Dweck calls that same productive capacity, growth mindset, as opposed to a fixed mindset.
I decided earlier to revise my Top 10 books, which I re-read every so often. We all want certain things in this world (wealth, health, relationships), but the question is, what does one deserve?
In revising my Top 10, I’m asking questions relevant to that. Questions like, in what ways might I become the man who deserves [X]?
So, the focus is on building the engine, the system of systems, addressing the cause, focusing on the process more than the outcome, the labor more than the fruit, growing the productive capacity.
Not only is the question “Does this make me better at [X]?” but also whether the action or perspective make me more deserving of [X].