The Three Constraints
Do you ever stop, slow down, and truly enjoy the moment you are in?
Without some major event, do you stop and ask yourself, ‘Is this the thing I want to do? Is this the time I should be spending? Is this what truly makes a difference in my life?’
Now there is a reality we all have to face, that we are working within constraints. We are working within rules set by others. Rules of your culture, your society, your family.
So you may have to modify your self questions to ask yourself if you are doing all you can within a set of rules imposed by others, followed by those around you, and executed by yourself?
If this is the first time you’ve thought about it, that’s OK. These rules are so ingrained in us, we don’t even notice them.
It’s like the old parable about two young fish swimming along, and an older fish swimming the other way, and asking, “How’s the water boys?”. Neither of the younger fish answer, and after a moment or two, the one young fish says to the other, “What’s water?”.
These constraints are all around you, they are your water.
A positive thing you have to realize is the greatest creativity comes with constraints, and I’ve narrowed it down to three potential areas to focus on:
The 3 constraints:
- The technology you have,
- The physical laws you have to stay within, and
- The time you have available.
If technology was limitless, you could create and execute on everything, with no limits, and I view this as the greatest area of growth. Technology is improving all the time, and amplifying people, businesses, and countries that embrace it.
If the physical laws weren’t what they are, anything you could imagine would manifest into reality. This still happens, just look at the chair you’re sitting in, or the computer you’re reading this on. At some point in the past, they were in someone’s imagination, and now they are in your present environment.
If time was limitless, you could eventually do everything you wanted. But it’s not, so you have to make choices as to how you spend your time.
And all these things work together. Your time, your imagination, and your technology, will all combine to take you to heights you can not possibly imagine.
You have to abide by these realities, but everything else is up to you.