Enthusiasm!

I love witnessing enthusiasm! Lately two podcast hosts interviewed two enthusiasts: Debbie Millman interviewed Adam Grant on Design Matters and second, Steven Levitt interviewed Joshua Jay on People I Mostly Admire.

When Debbie Millman asked Adam Grant about the speed with which he completed his graduate degree, he answered that while he had an enormous headstart, “at the time I subscribed to the When Harry Met Sally philosophy of career and life decision-making (….). I’ve always thought of it as that line where in the movie, I think it’s Billy Crystal who says ‘when you know what you want for the rest of your life, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.’ I didn’t go to grad school to be a grad student. Yes, of course I wanted to gain all this knowledge and build my skills, that was intrinsically interesting to me, but I wanted to share my knowledge, I wanted to teach!”

On Dan Levitt’s podcast, Joshua Jay expresses SO MUCH enthusiasm for magic, I regret my near-dismissal of the subject. Dan Levitt concludes the podcast: “Young people are often told they should find something they love and pursue it with everything they have - I’ve never really liked that advice… The problem is, when you’re just getting started with something, whether it’s magic or economics or even a new relationship, you just don’t know very much about the object you’ve fallen in love with and, as you get to know it better, what you initially loved often proves illusory or fades in importance. I mean, I still pursue the thing I love over something more practical every time. It’s a great place to start, but it’s only a start. To crate a lasting love of something, you have to make it your own, or as Joshua says, make it three dimensional.”