The other day, while flipping through a beautifully produced outdoor magazine, I came across a full-page illustration of a terrain map with the words “The Deeper You Get, The Deeper You Get” printed over it in small, red lettering.
It reminded me of the iconic back cover of the final edition of the Whole Earth Catalog, depicting the sun peaking around the moon on a top and an open road on a bottom picture. The now-famous line “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” is printed in white, contrasting the darkness of the moon photo.
When I saw the illustration, I paused. It is such a great reminder to lose yourself in whatever you do – be it hiking through the wilderness or building your startup. The only way to go deep on any topic, and thus the only way to become actually good at anything, is to get deep into it. And as the small, red lettering on the illustration pointed out – the beauty of getting deep into something is a whole new world opening itself up to you. You can only see a world hiding deep under the surface once you get deep enough.
I am certain you have experienced this before: The deep understanding of technical concepts once you spend hours digging through the stuff on the surface. The weird and wonderful back catalog of a band from which you initially only heard the hit singles. The intricate, masterful brush strokes on an artwork most of us only notice superficially.
Take your most curious interest and allow yourself to get deep – with the goal to get deeper (and deeper).