Mastery: Your Best Friends Are Often Your Greatest Critics

Issue No. 56 | January 22nd, 2024 | Read Time: 2 Minutes

I've got two different groups of friends.

The first group consists of the kind of friends that you usually hang out with from time to time. Friends that you see at work or might go bowling with once a year.

Then there's the second group.

This is the group that you hear from often; the type of friends that badger you for not doing this or not doing that.

In some instances, you start to wonder if they're even your friend because they're always grinding your gears about something you should be doing.

Believe it or not, these are some of the best friends you'll ever have.

To give you a better idea of what I'm talking about, I want to share you with an excerpt from a book I'm currently reading.

It's called

The Last Lecture

and it's written by Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University. 

But here's the kicker. Pausch wrote this book about three months before he passed away from pancreatic cancer leaving a wife and three children behind.

His book is a way of sharing with the world what he had learned or taught throughout his life. And even though he knew he was going to die, Pausch remained surprisingly upbeat. Not because he wasn't upset about his unavoidable outcome, but because he knew being upset over the inevitable would only ruin his last few months with his family.

One of the things he learned in his 47 years of living was that your best friends are also your greatest critics. And it's not that they're criticizing you, it's that they want you to become the greatest person you can possibly be. 

Because if you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you, it means they've given up on you.

So don't think that they're being hard on you because they hate you or want to see you fail. In fact, it's quite the opposite.

Hold onto those people the best you can. And whatever you do, don't let them down.

Until next time,

Isaiah Taylor

Dive Deeper

What I'm Currently Reading -

Right now I'm in the middle of reading

The Last Lecture

by Randy Pausch, a book on a dying man's insights about the meaning of life and seizing opportunities.

• If you'd like to see my book notes pertaining to this book or any others I have previously read, then check out my websiteisaiahctaylor.comto view my entire library of notes and summaries.

Quote Of The Week

• "Ask for help. Not because you are weak. But because you want to remain strong." — Les Brown