: lately I’ve been thinking a lot about this one guy I sometimes work with – @jakub . not about him as a person – he’s fine, we could easily grab a beer together – but about his approach. because his approach is… well, let’s say different than mine, maybe less comfortable for me. sometimes even a bit annoying. and still, there’s something in it that keeps pulling me in.
it’s this strange mix: the first reaction is “ugh, why does he think like that,” and then the second reaction comes, quieter but stronger: “wait… maybe I can learn something from this.” and the funny thing is, the more different we are, the more I feel that little spark of #growth. sometimes it’s 5% of his thinking that hits me, sometimes it’s 70%, but there’s always something there. some small thing that changes the way I see my own #work. my own #life.
I think this is exactly what I mean when I talk about “less comfortable.” it’s the same idea I wrote about in my old Polish blog – “mniej wygodnie.” being nudged out of my soft, predictable space. not in a dramatic way, just in that everyday “ok, this is not my style, but maybe it’s good for me” kind of way.
and honestly, I need this. this friction. this difference. because without it, everything becomes too warm, too cozy, and nothing moves. I stay in the same patterns, doing the same things, thinking the same thoughts. and then I start drifting. I know myself too well.
so maybe that’s why this cooperation feels useful to me. not because we always agree – we definitely don’t – but because his way of thinking forces me to look at my own. and that’s exactly the kind of fuel I need for the life I’m building. my “was fine life.” I still don’t even know how to describe it perfectly in English, but it’s something like this: the life that grows when I let myself be pushed a little. even by people who think differently than I do.
and maybe that’s the whole point – sometimes the most unexpected people become tiny, quiet teachers. not by intention. just by being different enough to shake me up, even for a moment.
