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Everyone seems to be stuck on the word "project" It's unquestionable that you need energy, excitement and confidence to be good at something. Anything from bei

by columbo 13y ago

Everyone seems to be stuck on the word "project" It's unquestionable that you need energy, excitement and confidence to be good at something. Anything from being a doctor, lawyer to professional athlete. So let's clarify these words before we start the strawmen arguments of "So lawyers should be jumping for joy and act like Billy Mays in the courtroom, right columbo?" Energetic (Possessing, exerting, or displaying energy.) - You need to have energy about what you do. Stephen King is energetic about writing horror fiction. He doesn't high-five everyone around him but you can tell he puts his energy into his books. Excitement (A feeling of great enthusiasm and eagerness) - What you do needs to excite you. It should be something that keeps you up at night thinking about it. A good surgeon should be excited to learn about new techniques and discoveries in his field. Confidence (a feeling or consciousness of one's powers or of reliance on one's circumstances) - You absolutely must know that you are going to sink that next basket. You don't need to walk around like you're the best person at the game but you need to believe that you yourself have the ability. So yes, you need these traits to excel. To argue this is really just leading towards a debate of "Well I choose a narrow definition of excitement and since doctors aren't that then it is irrelevant". Projection (The act of projecting or the condition of being projected.) is going to be the only thing people can fall back on. I don't believe they are saying to fake some part, but it definitely is not what I'm saying. Having these traits leads to projecting these traits. Your excitement, confidence and energy comes out when you talk about what you love to do. It just does.

vanderZwan 13y ago
I'm sorry, I'm all in favour of loving what you do and agree that this generally leads to good results, but that interpretation frames the sentence in a completely different context than the original story, which is the following: > So fundraising is a psychologically trying experience that depends very little on any sober analysis of the quality of your product Smile or die, motherfucker! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5um8QWWRvo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5um8QWWRvo > It's unquestionable that you need energy, excitement and confidence to be good at something. Anything from being a doctor, lawyer to professional athlete. Oh, that is VERY questionable. The first two are focussing on positive emotions and ignore the important role negativity plays. Smilarly, confidence does not in any way equate capability. > Projection (The act of projecting or the condition of being projected.) is going to be the only thing people can fall back on. No, that's just our intuitive mind being too lazy to do a rigorous analysis of the situation. I recommend "Thinking Fast and Slow" by Kahneman to fix this.
- dylangs1030 13y ago
  Have you ever listened to an interview with Michael Jordan? He specifically stated he "knew" he'd make the next hoop. Confidence is extremely important in athletics, engineering, business, etc. Some more than others. But someone with confidence issues will never be as efficient and consistent as someone who is not. You must have personal belief invested in yourself and your corresponding ability before you can really use it effectively. I agree with excitement and energy though. I know quite a few people who hate their jobs but do them successfully.
  - vanderZwan 13y ago
    My point was that being confident in itself doesn't make you good at something.
- columbo 13y ago
  > The first two are focussing on positive emotions and ignore the important role negativity plays. There's no definition of either that I know of that includes "positive emotions" and ignores "negative emotions". That's a made up definition. > Smilarly, confidence does not in any way equate capability. Never said it did. I also never said these were the only things you need. But you do need them. There's no way forward without going to specifics. I guess I'd need to see an example of 5 or 10 industry leaders or greats, from any industry; Linus Torvald, Mary Roach, Warren Buffett, Jon Stwart etc... that did not have energy, enthusiasm and confidence.

by columbo 13y ago

vanderZwan 13y ago

I'm sorry, I'm all in favour of loving what you do and agree that this generally leads to good results, but that interpretation frames the sentence in a completely different context than the original story, which is the following: > So fundraising is a psychologically trying experience that depends very little on any sober analysis of the quality of your product Smile or die, motherfucker! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5um8QWWRvo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5um8QWWRvo > It's unquestionable that you need energy, excitement and confidence to be good at something. Anything from being a doctor, lawyer to professional athlete. Oh, that is VERY questionable. The first two are focussing on positive emotions and ignore the important role negativity plays. Smilarly, confidence does not in any way equate capability. > Projection (The act of projecting or the condition of being projected.) is going to be the only thing people can fall back on. No, that's just our intuitive mind being too lazy to do a rigorous analysis of the situation. I recommend "Thinking Fast and Slow" by Kahneman to fix this.

dylangs1030 13y ago
Have you ever listened to an interview with Michael Jordan? He specifically stated he "knew" he'd make the next hoop. Confidence is extremely important in athletics, engineering, business, etc. Some more than others. But someone with confidence issues will never be as efficient and consistent as someone who is not. You must have personal belief invested in yourself and your corresponding ability before you can really use it effectively. I agree with excitement and energy though. I know quite a few people who hate their jobs but do them successfully.
- vanderZwan 13y ago
  My point was that being confident in itself doesn't make you good at something.
columbo 13y ago
> The first two are focussing on positive emotions and ignore the important role negativity plays. There's no definition of either that I know of that includes "positive emotions" and ignores "negative emotions". That's a made up definition. > Smilarly, confidence does not in any way equate capability. Never said it did. I also never said these were the only things you need. But you do need them. There's no way forward without going to specifics. I guess I'd need to see an example of 5 or 10 industry leaders or greats, from any industry; Linus Torvald, Mary Roach, Warren Buffett, Jon Stwart etc... that did not have energy, enthusiasm and confidence.