Oct 11, 2024
Welcome to Quote Unwrapped, where I analyze a quote and provide a new perspective for you.
Perspective
"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another"
- Proverbs 27:17
My story
This quote comes from the bible and I personally believe that this is the best one.
When I first heard this quote a few years back, It didn't resonate with me, I had nothing to connect it to. Back then, me and my friends mostly played video games. We were too comfortable, not pushing for more and the concept of sharpening each other didn't exist.
Then as I got more active, I got into bouldering (a form of rock climbing) and invited my friends to climb with me.
Unbeknownst to me, this was the start of something new.
I was struggling on this one route, failing at least 6 times. I was discouraged, I didn’t want to do it, I wanted to leave.
Then my friends were like “WE END ON A WIN” and after a minute of visualization, a few pointers, a surplus of encouragement, and threats about them brushing my teeth with the rock cleaner, I surmounted it. That inspired one of our friends, who was stuck on his course, to finish it as well, and he did.
I was like damn, ok. this is the life.
Comradeship is one of the most beautiful aspects of life, as we pushed each other to surpass our preconceived limits.
enough about me,
Lets go deep.
Heres the sad but true reality of life:
There are two types of people we counter.
People who drag us down
People who lift us up
The latter is how we grow, when we surround ourselves with individuals who challenge and uplift us, we grow and we do the same to them.
This is why many successful people attend "Masterminds" - places where driven individuals come together to share knowledge, challenges, and strategies. It is a room of concentrated intelligence.
As a result of that, traits such as creativity, problem-solving, and inspiration are birthed, because they’re built on the same principle: iron sharpens iron.
Being challenged isn't easy, but that friction ultimately leads to strength in the end, like how both parties come out from a competition being better, win or lose.
Growth should not be a solo journey, its time we bring down this "lone wolf" perspective.
It is said that successful people credit their spouse the most. We develop the most when we surround ourselves with people who make us better through challenge and collaboration.
Take action.
how can you apply this?
Seek out people who challenge you: Be around people who push you to grow, who see the potential you don't see in yourself .
Acknowledge that discomfort is part of the journey: With discomfort, comes growth. Think of every instance you struggled and surmounted it, it was a great learning experience eh?
Sharpen others: Its not just about receiving, push other people to become better to. Offer inspiration, honest yet constructive feedback, and stand by them.
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
Remember, its who you become on the journey.
Others.
