On Conquest
Conquest has a bad rep — It reeks of excess testosterone, coercion, death. Attila the Hun and Don Juan may be conquest’s co-mascots.
But like many concepts, underconsidered are conquest’s upsides:
Conquering a challenge at work. Unless it feels insurmountable, juices can fuel relentless, even no-sleep, efforts to build that software, clean out that basement, and make progress on that new approach to cancer.
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Conquering a relationship. Sometimes, you know that a person should be your friend, lover, even spouse, but the other person doesn’t quite realize it. Your passion to make it happen could be fuel to happiness. Or within a relationship, there’s a problem, for example, about money. Sometimes, a measure of planning, restraint, savvy shopping and investing can solve — sometimes.
Even geniuses face learning challenges — That thing you should learn but ain’t easy. Of course, sometimes we must accept that something is too hard or not worth the opportunity cost: what else you could be doing with the time and perhaps money — as in going for that degree. I, for one, would find it a poor use of time to learn astrophysics or even handyman skills. The key is to know when to hold ‘em, when to fold ‘em. Wise quitting is underrated.
I’m trying, perhaps unrealistically, to temper my excess intensity. Anything you’re trying to or should be trying to conquer?
I read this aloud on YouTube.
Marty Nemko is a career and personal coach, and author of 36 books including How to Do Life. You can reach him at mnemko@gmail.com
