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On Wednesdays, we’ll reflect: See below for some some of what I’ve learned from the week to inspire reflection, a well-being soundbite, and a view of my wish list / recs / things I’m currently obsessing over. 🙂
Quick reminder: With the holidays approaching, I’ll be leaning in to spending time with family and friends and moving to a shorter version of The Root 9 through year-end. I’ll be sharing Motivation on Mondays, What I Learned This Week on Wednesdays, and Food For Thought on Fridays. I’m going to take some of that time back from preparing a shorter newsletter to think about next year, including what is in store for The Root 9 and how I am thinking about evolving it as we approach its anniversary in February 🙂 And, in the spirit of The Root 9, being more present during the holidays, closing the year out strong, and recharging. I hope you are able to do the same ❤️
W.I.L.T.W (What I Learned This Week)
Definition vs. Feeling & The Impact On Trust
“Given the choice between two babysitters, we are more likely to trust a babysitter with a little experience from the neighborhood than one with a lot of experience from far away... in this case, we trust familiarity over experience with something quite important: the safety of our children.”
I’m still listening to the audiobook of Simon Sinek’s Start With Why. I’ll be honest: I’m not entirely certain what my specific "takeaway" is from this quote just yet. However, I’m hoping that by reflecting on it here, the insight will begin to take shape.
When we think about trust, we usually imagine a linear, rational process. We look at weigh and check references & facts. Yet, when we look at our lives, our choices are often far less logical. We frequently hear the advice to "trust your gut." In doing so, we place our faith in something that lacks a purely rational capacity, yet we feel it is trustworthy. Our gut processes emotions and instincts without the need for words. It feels like a contradiction to the dictionary definition of trust, which is often based on the proven reliability or strength of something / someone.
Sinek illustrates this through the babysitter example mentioned in the quote above. He explains that most parents would choose a local teenager they recognize from the neighborhood that has good ‘reviews’ from a neighbor as a babysitter over a more experienced one from a distant city, even if that individual has a more robust track record. Even with something as vital as the safety of our children, we tend to choose familiarity over expertise.
Perhaps the lesson here is found in that very paradox. Sometimes our most "rational" decisions are actually rooted in feelings we cannot fully explain. We can define trust in a literal sense, but we often struggle to point to data that validates why we feel it to be ‘true’ at times. How does connection play in to our definition of trust?
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