The Guitar String

Thinking beyond the immediate consequences of choices and decisions

Good Morning!

“Daily Self” is officially 5 days old today 🥳, which means it is 5 days closer to being one of the biggest newsletters in the world. Here’s what’s inside today’s edition…

1. Morning Microdose: The Guitar String

2. Myth of the Day: Paying it forward must result in a tangible benefit for the recipient

3. Action Item: How many guitar strings can you vibrate by doing something different?

(1) Morning Microdose

The Guitar String

We’re starting off with a very light physics lesson this morning. Have you ever picked up a guitar, ukulele, violin, or other stringed instrument and plucked a string like this?

Do you know how the sound got to your ears?

When you plucked that guitar string, it began to vibrate, creating sound waves that traveled through the air and into your ears, allowing you to hear the sound of the string.

But did you know that the sound waves from the plucked string also caused other guitar strings to vibrate as well? When the sound waves from the plucked string reached the other strings, they all started vibrating at the same frequency—their motions in sync.

When two or more strings are vibrating at the same frequency, it suggests that there is a strong coupling or “resonance” between them. Even though the vibrations of the other strings may be weaker than the one that you plucked, they still contribute to the overall sound.

Ok, physics lesson over, and if you guessed the lesson was to introduce a metaphor, you guessed correctly.

Imagine humanity as a giant guitar…

…where a single guitar string represents all your actions, choices, and decisions over the course of your life. Each time you pluck your guitar string (act, choose, decide) it makes the other guitar strings vibrate.

These vibrations represent the direct and indirect effects that you have on others. It’s easy to observe direct effects, but much harder to wrap our heads around indirect effects. Here are some examples:

1. You show kindness and compassion to someone directly, and then they—in turn—feel so good about how you made them feel, they show kindness and compassion to someone they encounter, and so on. This all began when you plucked your guitar string. Note: This is the concept of “paying it forward.”

2. You speak in front of a crowd about a moving experience you’ve had, causing them to laugh, cry, reflect, and wonder. Imagine how many guitar strings you’re causing to vibrate at that moment, as the audience’s emotions resonate with yours and continue to do so after they’ve gone home. This can be observed with the power of Ted Talks, and how Brene Brown hit 61M+ views.

3. You learn a new skill, try a new hobby, or start a new job—once again you pluck your guitar string and entirely different guitar strings vibrate along with you. The decision to start a new job may have direct consequences such as increased income and job satisfaction, but it may also have indirect consequences such as changes in personal relationships, lifestyle, and overall well-being.

Just as plucking a guitar string causes resonant coupling with other guitar strings, our actions, choices, and decisions can set in motion a chain of events leading to both intended and unintended consequences. Every action you take has a ripple effect that extends beyond the immediate outcome you are trying to achieve.

So I encourage you to think beyond immediate consequences and to consider the broader, and potentially very powerful, impact you have on the lives of those around you. Approach plucking your guitar string with intentionality and mindfulness, and reflect on the music you're ultimately trying to make.

(2) Myth of the Day

In reality, the true power of paying it forward lies in the broader ripple effects of kindness and generosity, and the positive impact that these actions can have on individuals, communities, and society as a whole.

While paying it forward can have many different forms and varying degrees of impact, the essence lies in the idea of spreading love through small, intentional actions that have the potential to create a chain reaction of positivity and belonging.

(3) Action Item

Re-read Tuesday’s edition “The Power of Surprising Yourself.” Now, do something that surprises you and think, very intentionally, about the number of guitar strings you vibrated while doing so. Also, was your guitar string vibrating differently (i.e. at a different frequency) than it usually is?

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