You Never Step in the Same River Twice
You’re not the same person twice, and neither is the world. Can this idea apply to work?
techno-sapien.com
“You never step in the same river twice. For it's not the same river, and you are not the same person." The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said this. Can this ancient advice help you succeed in modern times?
I think so. Heraclitus was telling us to live an examined, humble, learning-centric life. To look at each day, each meeting, and each task as new.
That is,
You never live the same workday twice. You can listen better today than you did yesterday. You can always be kinder and more generous.
You never begin the same workweek twice. You can reflect on last week’s progress and pick up the pace if you didn’t gain on your goals.
You never perform the same task twice. You can always write the next sentence more persuasively than before, document a line of code better, or tell a better story.
You never work with the same people twice. Everyone you work with is changing, too. You can always re-ask questions and dig deeper into their wisdom.
You never explore the same data twice. Old data can reveal new insight. Compare it to new benchmarks or combine it with external sources. Try looking at it with new visualizations. You might learn something new.
You're changing every day. The world is changing. Your work colleagues are changing. Your data is changing.
You never step in the same river twice.
