I have been thinking about the “two ways to build the tallest building” for a bit now. Of course this is figuratively. I am not talking about having an actual building, but more so the mindset you have.
I wish I could take credit for this initial thought, but this has been resonating with me for a couple months now. And I think talking about mindset is hugely important to one’s personal and professional development. When you really think about it, having the right mindset around this can really shape how you interact with others and the world you’re in.
Whether this “building” is your career, your business, your social media account, or even your self-esteem, it is extremely important to try to focus on how you approach your growth. Here I’ll explain the two ways of building the tallest building and the reason why you should focus solely on one.
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(Related: Career Chat With The Public Health Millennial)
The Two Ways
1) Have a decent building and then spend all your time to tear down everyone else’s building
Many people fall into this category for some reason. They have this envious feeling inside that drives them away from having empathy and compassion for others and towards selfishness and envy.
We all know familiar examples of people trolling on Facebook, YouTube or Twitter. Trolling and any kind of hate is a reflection on the person spewing it – someone who uses their time to try to put down others. You’ll never see a happy person just go along their day and say let me spend 10 minutes to watch this and instead of just leaving (if they didn’t like it) to actually go and take their time to write something hurtful to that person. People that troll are hurting inside or are just willfully ignorant beyond a doubt.
People that are trying to tear down someone others building are really hurting inside. This may be their only outlet to release their pain.
Gary Vee, in the video above, even breaks it down talking about the All Lives Matter counter people. He says when people hear “Black Lives Matter” they think that it means “my life matters less and I think that’s super wrong. That’s why people respond All Lives Matter. They don’t get it, they think it’s a competition.” Black Lives Matter does not come at the cost of any other lives. It is not a zero sum game, Black Lives Matter is not to come at the expense of any or life. Many things that come out of hate
Tear down others building comes from a mindset of abundance when this world is way too plentiful. Build up your building, help build others and you’ll see how beneficial this will be for you in the long run. Tearing down others buildings does not do any good for your own building.
2) Just build the tallest building in town
Having 200% commitment and intention to build your tallest “building” should be key. This should be the way we think about building the tallest building, however a minority of people think this way.
“When you know you can build the tallest building in town, you do that.” You don’t have to worry about knocking down someone others building because you realize that you both bring value and can learn and grow together.
I think Gary makes a great point when he says that he does not value any one’s opinion of him (including his mother, wife and children) over his own opinion of himself. This is so simple yet can be so powerful. We too often maybe shift our focus on what is important to us because of what others impression of it may be. By being able to stand strong to your own belief in yourself and understand that the person that knows you best is you.
Don’t be swayed when you have personal conviction on something that is important for you. Double down and push to improve yourself. Building the tallest “building” only takes you focusing on what is important to you. All external factors should not matter and should not put you down.
When you start to focus on building your own building you’ll realize just how fruitful putting energy into your craft will be. The person that focuses 100% of their energy on one thing is sure to get ahead the person spending some time trying to tear down others. There is also something to be said about building mutualistic relationships with others to aid you both on your journeys.
We should aim to build on what we have but also develop the relationships to make us thrive for a long time not a good time.
Positive Competition
Another way to think of building the tallest “building” is in collaboration vs competition. Though I recognize that competition is good and tends to result in better. Unnecessary competition is going to take your energy away from your forward momentum and shift it to try to stop others. Might it be better to just focus on our race?
To point out positive competition let’s take the case of Michael Phelps, probably the greatest swimmer to grace the earth thus far, and Ryan Lochte. He and US teammate, Ryan Lochte, are quite the competitors. These two have been fierce rivals for over 12 years, with both still competing for the US National Swimming Team. They have compete on all levels around the world for the same Gold medals time and time again. They train in different parts of the country, but are always trying to beat the other.
But as soon as the races are done, you would never be able to tell which one of them has one – the other has always been openly happy for the other. They celebrate together and both celebrate each-others wins and loses. I don’t think anyone could make the case that the other has tried to sabotage the others career in benefit of their own. Though they are fierce rivals, they are humans and friends before this and support each other through this positive competition.
I think it’s important to be able to have competition so that you are able to reach heights you didn’t even think possible. However, you must be internally happy for the effort you put in over the result. If you dwell on others buildings or even try to burn them down, this takes away from you appreciating the wonderful building that you were able to construct. Focus your energy on being happy for others success as well as having an unwavering belief in what yourself and what you are doing.
Surely, if Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte could be happy for each-other after the other won the gold they trained so hard to get, I think we can be happy for each-other even when we don’t “win”.
Abundance Mindset vs Scarcity Mindset
Too many people think of life as a zero sum game. However with over 7.8 billion people in the world today and so much wealth in so many respects. We have to learn to think in abundance rather than scarcity. This could also be reflected in seeing the cloud in the silver lining in tough situations. As well as seeing opportunity where others might see despair.
The person with the Abundance Mindset thinks:
- “There will always be more”
- Security, peace, happiness
- Collaboration to stay on top
- Generous with others, shares knowledge and freely offers help
- Strives to grow
- Embraces change
- No Losers
The person with the Scarcity Mindset says:
- “There will never be enough”
- Stress, anxiety, depression
- Competes to stay on top
- Hoardes things from others, won’t share knowledge or offer help
- Always seeing threat in others as is afraid to be replaced
- Fears change
- Zero-sum game
By growing and embracing an abundance mindset, you will see the world from a new positive light. Remember that the world is abundant and that no one is taking out of your pocket – there is plenty to go around.
(Related: Why you Should Teach Your Kids About Equity and Racism)
Focus on your own “building”
As seen above, Chad le Clos looking over at a winning Michael Phelps does nothing to help him win the race. In fact, it isn’t the best form to go the fastest. Michael Phelps on the other hand is focused on the prize with his eyes dead center focused on finishing the race.
Too often we get consumed with what others are doing. Especially with the technological social media age here to stay. We forget that we can build for ourselves. Understand that where someone is now is in no part a reflection of a lack of where you are and what your worth is. You have so much worth if you start to look inward and find it. Take time and energy to work towards building whatever it is you want to call your own.
This can be your career, your business, your social media accounts, or even a person hobby/interest. If we were more focused on ourselves and less focused on others, we could build so much more for ourselves.
Don’t get carried away with what others are doing and focus on what you are doing and how you can advance that!
What to do going forward to build the tallest building
In public health and in life there are always going to be two options: focus on your own stuff (and celebrate others) OR focus on tearing down others so that you are at the top. As public health students or professionals, there is much to be learnt about collaboration and working together to achieve each-others goals.
Seek out opportunities to learn from likeminded individuals as well as others you may have different opinions with. Make sure to view challenges and setback as opportunities to redefine how you do something.
Focusing on growing and learning should be your primary focus. Use your time to develop your craft, strengthen your skillsets and work on your weaknesses. It’s extremely important to be self-aware of oneself.
There is such a thing as positive competition that doesn’t go against your own building. You can be competitive with still having love and wanting not the best for your opponent. There is no doubt that competition is great to have, just make sure its positive.
Make sure to have an abundance mindset in order to get the most out of your experiences and life. Scarcity in thoughts brings with it scarcity in all other aspects of life.
Lastly, there is no “building” that is more important than your own. Make sure you are putting energy into building up what is yours rather than idly doing nothing or envying others”buildings.”
What do you think about these two ways to build the tallest building?
