“If you will not reveal yourself to others, you cannot reveal yourself to yourself. That does not only mean that you suppress who you are, although it also means that. It means that so much of what you could be will never be forced by necessity to come forward. This is a biological truth, as well as a conceptual truth. When you explore boldly, when you voluntarily confront the unknown, you gather information and build your renewed self out of that information.”
Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 212)
Beyond the Quote (155/365)
Staying in hiding doesn’t only keep you hidden from the world—it keeps you hidden from yourself. For, as long as you stay hidden from the world, the lessons of the world will remain hidden from you. I can assure you, the lessons of the world will not come knocking at your door or come waltzing into your designated place of hiding. These lessons are only to be found OUT in the world and they must be pursued and captured.
Your mind needs to be challenged, stimulated, given a goal, given guidance, and exposed to different perspectives and situations in order to optimally develop. Being in hiding, in your own head and surrounded only by those who think exactly the same way as you is stifling. So, why do so many people want to hide in the face of growth and opportunity that’s out in the world?
I think the better question is, why WOULDN’T people want to hide when faced with the world? The world is incredibly dangerous, damaged, unfair, unjust, scary, evil, and filled with daunting problems. It takes a certain kind of person to walk voluntarily into that kind of mess, unprompted, unapologetically, and (most impressively) with courage and vigor. For most, I think what keeps them in hiding is personal safety and comfort zones.
As wild and as crazy as our own minds can be, they’re still relatively predictable, familiar, and comfortable compared to what’s outside of our minds. And comfortable is hard to walk away from especially if the alternative can be so glim, dark, and malevolent. But, again, the realization is that the comfort you’re hiding in is growth-stifling, ignorant-promoting, and wildly limiting compared to what you’re capable of becoming with boldness, bravery, and maybe a little force of necessity, as Peterson calls it above.
When you avoid the world, yes, you’re avoiding all of the mess and danger, but you’re also avoiding all of the very lessons that would lead you to become more intellectually well-rounded, thick-skinned, strong-willed, socially competent, and boldly independent. There is no lesson without an opposing experience of some kind. And an experience implies that there is some kind of action into an unknown.
That unknown might be the teacher’s classroom, or a book, or a hike into the woods, or a protest, or a conversation, or a trip to another part of the world. It’s an action (whereas hiding implies inaction) that causes a reaction, that challenges your skills, abilities, and thought-processes. This type of learning—experiential learning—is the very tool, the fundamental practice, for unleashing your best self. There is no better way.
When you reserve your judgment, avoid confrontation, stand down against injustice, and speak only to yourself—you will stay only where you currently are—both physically and developmentally. There will be no reactions for you to contemplate, talk about, research, or explore. These reactions that you get after every action act as a sort of mirror that allow you to see yourself better. For, how you respond to the actions of the world act as the true revealer of your character.
We cannot be judged by our intentions. We cannot be judged by our wishes. We cannot be judged by our thought processes. We can only ever TRULY be judged by our actions. And if you really want to see a person for who they are, judge them not based solely on how they act during times of comfort and calm—judge them by how they act during times of adversity and conflict. This goes for you, too. Get out into the world, take some actions, have some reactions, and get better. Every action, every reaction, and every experience will bring you further and further out from hiding, not just from the world, but from yourself. And this revealer and further development of your character will be good not just for you, but in the face of the mess of the world, too.
This post became the introduction for: 48 Deep and Insightful Jordan Peterson Quotes from 12 Rules for Life
Don't Let the Motivation Stop There...!
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