2. Concordance

Dear Marlowe,

Everybody has something in life that they’re naturally suited to. Something that plays to their physical or mental strengths, or is fuelled by an insatiable passion.

This fit — between an activity and our unique persona — is called concordance. And the more concordant we are with what we’re doing, the more we’ll enjoy it and the better we’ll perform. 

I am lucky to have discovered several things in life that I’m concordant with. For example, I’m concordant with writing and teaching, which is part of the reason why I love writing these letters to you!

Understand this. Concordance is fundamental to your happiness and fulfillment. Doing jobs or tasks that go against the grain of your brain is frustrating, exhausting and can easily become a waste of a life.

A big step towards achieving your potential and living a meaningful life is discovering activities that you’re concordant with. The things that feel natural to you and spark your interest. That you want to immerse yourself in for hours at a time. That never feel like work, even if you’re paid to do them.

Where you find concordance, you’ll find meaning.

Love,

Dad

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Letters to Marlowe is a personal project to pass on valuable life advice to my son.

To learn more about concordance I highly recommend James A. King's book Accelerating Excellence. I learned much from this book, including this.

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