I read a post by Sam Altman a few months ago, How to Be Successful.
Kitschy, very Dale Carnegie title but good content.
One remark especially resonated with me, “I try to always ask myself when I meet someone new ‘is this person a force of nature?’ It’s a pretty good heuristic for finding people who are likely to accomplish great things.”
As many people do, often unconsciously, I rely on my intuition when meeting people—listen to how my body responds more than my mind. Our bodies have spent millennia evolving, much more than the frontal cortices’ thousands. Practicing somatic meditation made that revelation glaringly clear to me, I could write a whole book on it, but back to Sam’s post—I resonated with his point because it captured in words what my intuition looks for, force of nature.
It’s a term that stuck with me, I started putting more words to how I define it, a signal list, the cues that light up my intuition, that says yep this person is it.
I’m protective of my mental state and my time, perennially conscious of the fact that how I spend my days and with whom is, of course, how I spend my life. I’m drawn to characters, unique beings with an internal strength that is their own. Pillars that hold still and steady in a sort of knowing resilience and power that externals can’t bend or break. Bedrock under ocean. Forces of nature. It’s refreshing and comforting, being with people who are their Own, an Own that needs nothing of you, that offers an effortless, askless vigor that seems to hold up a room. It’s a version of existence I look up to, opt to surround myself with, strive to find in myself.
I’m grateful to have a few of these in my life and many others out in the world either alive or on paper that I reach out to or refer to book notes when I need to pull myself up to this higher state.
The list today
Fear and uncertainty are motivators, not paralyzers.
Strong, lasting impact on whoever spends time with them. By definition, they’re a forcing function onto that which they interact with.
Unwavering confidence balanced with an obsession with contributing value to the world, more externally than internally focused.
A willingness, and preference, to be wholly, unapologetically their true self in all situations, driven by that confidence.
A stunningly unique imagination and intellect. Consistent flow of bold, novel ideas that make them valuable simply by being in a room and adding insights after listening.
Judiciously, scrupulously selects where to direct attention. When you have their attention, it’s 100% engaged and present.
Embracer of change. Sees life as fluid not fixed and maintains a belief that if you want change you make it, at any time, under any circumstances.
Effective differentiators between things they can and cannot control, and selectively focuses energy toward that which they can.
Maintenance of a calm centeredness in any situation, no matter the novelty or intensity.
Lives a balanced life, prioritizes family and health and dedicates a similar rigor to those pillars alongside professional success.
There’s a natural ease to it. They’re somewhat unaware of their intense unaverageness. They simply are, more than they methodically try to be.
They have a taste for quality, and opt to surround themself that standard.
A leader, someone you want to get behind. In a dire situation they’re looked to as a reprieve, a lifeboat.
They have a diverse set of hobbies and skills and a habit of taking them to the extreme. The hobbies often have a level of intensity and complexity that make becoming great at them rare, e.g. piano, chess, magic, poker, martial arts, kite-surfing.
Thoughtful and intentional speaker, with a succinct prose and a voice you’re compelled to direct attention to. They are often quiet observers, when they do speak the words have a weight that either directs or concludes the discussion.
A seemingly unending flow of energy and stamina that comes from within, not external circumstances. Life on its own energizes them.
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