3 Simple Steps to Combat Complacency
Seth Godin recently posted a short article about what he calls “The Spiderman Paradox.” His idea is based on Uncle Ben’s quote from the Spiderman movie, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
The paradox lies in the fact that we all have the potential to have great power, but we forego that potential because we don’t want the responsibility.
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of responsibilities I don’t want – elected office, holding a high rank in a big company, watching a toddler that doesn’t belong to me – for those things, you can count me out.
But that isn’t what Godin is talking about. He’s talking about very basic responsibilities, and he is actually describing the people who are dangerously close to The Edge of Laziness.
Who is Godin talking about?
Pulled directly from his article, here are some of the descriptions:
“We have the power to vote, but decide to stay home and whine.”
“Most people read tweets, they don’t write them.”
“When the local arts program fades away, it’s because we watched Netflix instead.”
“And when the local school persists in churning out barely competent cogs for the industrial system, it’s because we didn’t speak up.”
Godin is talking about the people who are bored as soon as they are not being spoon fed content through their smart phones.
How do we combat the Spiderman Paradox?
I think this is a simple, multi-step solution:
Step One
Start by defining your interests. What do you want to learn more about? Try making a list of three or four things you would enjoy reading about, watching videos on, or practicing if you had no other responsibilities.
The purpose of this step is to focus your attention from a shotgun approach to a rifle approach.
You don’t want to spend your free time scrolling social media aimlessly, but that's what we default to if we don’t have a plan.
Know your interests and default to those when you have free time.
Step Two
Dive deep into your interests. While social media can be a black hole of time wasting nonsense, it can also be a wealth of knowledge.
There is an endless supply of people who are interested in everything under the sun.
If step one leads you to realize that knitting sweaters for cats is your number one interest, that’s great! You’re not the only extremely disturbed individual who thinks this is a good idea.
A quick Google search for “how to make cat sweaters” returned 3 YouTube videos and one blog post. There were probably a lot more results, but I was getting some weird looks in the library, so I closed the window.
As you spend your free time learning about and practicing your interests, something cool is going to happen. You will find a community of people who have the same interests.
After retiring, my grandpa dove deep into his passion for fishing. He joined a local Trout Unlimited chapter where he and other members cleaned up streams and taught kids to fish.
He also used an online bulletin board to ask for advice about fishing in a different state where he was going for a wedding. Through the bulletin board, he connected with a local fisherman who agreed to meet and showed him the ropes of the unfamiliar fishing spot.
He was in his 60s when this happened – you have no excuse!
In short, interests lead to community, and community leads to engagement.
Step Three
Allow your interests to guide where you seek responsibility. Again, I don’t want to be president, and you don’t need to seek that level of responsibility either.
But as you develop your interests and become part of communities, you will find the responsibilities that interest you.
Maybe that responsibility is organizing the monthly book club.
Or maybe it is running a Twitter page that updates your community on local theater events.
Or maybe you are interested in a specific genre of music, so you create a YouTube channel teaching people how to play those songs on the guitar.
Your responsibility could take a million different forms, big or small. But in every case, it will take the form of engagement.
This simple solution doesn’t specifically solve Godin’s grievances, and it can’t solve the problem overnight.
What the solution does is create a society of more engaged, less complacent people.
Those two qualities alone will work wonders to combat the Spiderman Paradox.
If this resonates with you, and you want to move One Click on The Engagement Continuum, here are some steps you can take to get started today.
