Lessons from 3 Idiots: Beyond the Obvious Takeaways

Lately I’ve been hearing a lot from non-Indian friends and acquaintances about the Bollywood movie 3 Idiots, which I absolutely love by the way. Mystically, it was playing on TV last night, and somehow I couldn’t resist watching it again. In light of conversations I had had about career success earlier that day, I pondered the message of the movie.

At first blush, the takeaway seems obvious – after all, the movie reiterates the line which purports to underscore its message several times – “Don’t run after success, run after excellence and success will run after you”. This pithy message is made even more poignant with the final image, of the ‘3 idiots’ (the protagonists) running, and so-called ‘success’ in the form of a character illustrating the corollary viewpoint running after them.

When I thought about it a bit deeper, what occurred to me were the following points:

1.       The central character, ‘Rancho’ illustrated not only the pursuit of excellence, but even more importantly, the kind of person one should presumably aspire to be – generous, kind, helpful, unswayed by excessive praise or criticism. This is illustrated over several anecdotes, but the feeling generated by him is generally that most people sooner or later love and admire him. Becoming this sort of person could then be seen as a goal in itself.

2.    Excellence stems from sustained hard work, and hard work, even if it doesn’t give you an immediate reward, can only be sustained over the long period required by loving what you do. This returns to the passion hypothesis, derisively disputed by Cal Newport, but includes his premise that only by being “so good they can't ignore you” can you succeed. The movie then is implicitly arguing that the hard work needed to acquire mastery can only happen when you start by choosing a path you love already, or are interested enough to pursue. If you secretly harbouring an infatuation with some other professional calling, then you won't be able to achieve excellence in the path that you’re following only out of a sense of duty – like the wildlife photographer trying to be an engineer in the movie. This point especially appeals to me – as I am afraid to fully commit to the marriage to writing, keeping a toe in other pursuits, in case I'm not good enough or lucky enough to succeed in this endeavour.

3.   The final point, and to me the most important one, centers on creating value. Simply focusing on excellence is a bit pointless if you are excellent at conning people out of their money. It may make you successful by a narrow definition of sheer net worth; however, if by success you mean feeling fulfilled and happy in a larger sense, creating value is the key to success. If you notice, all the inventions Rancho worked on found a problem or gap and filled it. Although the movie doesn’t explicitly mention this, I believe that creating the most value possible through one’s work is really the oft-neglected ingredient in the elusive formula for success; at least the 3 idiot-brand of success.

Multi-tasking: Trying to Read More

I read this suggestion on Jamie Rubin’s blog that he walks with audio books, so he gets reading done, especially classics that we wouldn’t otherwise get around to reading. And I thought that was a fab idea, and one I should try out. I tried it out, while listening to Anna Karenina, which I got on audiobook a while ago, and listened to a few chapters, but never got around to finishing – other stuff got in the way, and I changed my walk route, and started trying to walk more and faster and everything.

So today I tried this, allowing myself to walk slowly so I could get back into the rhythm of the book, especially because I'm not great with listening, I always prefer subtitles in movies for instance. I actually managed to walk my usual amount – about 40 minutes, without breaking a sweat, or getting exhausted, which I usually do. And I made great progress on my book! So I'm now resolved to try walking in the morning, first thing. I like to start my day by reading, but this way I could get my walk and reading done at the same time. Let’s see how the experiment goes…

This comes on the heels of a determination to read more classics, ones that everyone says they want to read, or have read, but haven’t gotten around to yet. The Bronte Sisters, Leo Tolstoy, Dickens, Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, obscure Austen novels…the list for me is long. I have been wanting to read these for ages, especially because I believe as a would-be writer I should be well-versed in the greats. If I could combine my walking with reading, then I will be ecstatic.

I have also been trying lately to figure out how to put more into each day, get more done, but in a natural way, not by obsessively making lists, and rushing around like a headless chicken. I have always envied those who get huge amounts done, and also come across as super-relaxed, have great relationships, and generally are very balanced. You know the sort I mean – people you admire and envy in equal measure!

Balancing the Well

Julia Cameron wrote in one of her books about filling the well, filling ourselves on art and images and creative input, so that we are brimming with fresh ideas and creativity for our own projects. This is the premise behind her concept of 'Artist's Dates' - spending time on your own doing something creative like visiting a gallery, or a bookstore, or watching a play.

In my own life I have noticed that if I go too long without fresh creative input, I start to feel stale and dispirited. It starts to infect my work, even if I am working on something dry like a journal article. Taking the time to fill my well, even if it’s as simple as watching a movie that is quite different from the kind I usually watch, can inject fresh enthusiasm and ideas.

I have even started to intuitively feel the level at which my well is filled - half, three-quarters, full to the brim. When I am feeling full to the brim of ideas and thoughts, I can actually overcome the usual crippling writer's block that assails me most days. Skipping with enthusiasm and admiration for the talent and creativity of others' work, I feel slightly braver and want to attempt my own. To me, this is the main advantage of filling the well - keeping the sniping Critic at bay.

The other side of this though, is that you can be endlessly filling the well, but never drawing from it. It's much less risky to keep reading books, watching movies and listening to other people's music, and never putting yourself on the line by attempting any art of your own. Thus, you are basically overflowing your well - you keep adding to it, but never withdrawing and using any of the creative sparks generated by all this input. Without output of a fairly regular nature, you're not able to use the excess input, which simply drains away.

I was like this for many years, and am even guilty of it now at times. It can be tempting to have lots of exciting ideas, write them down on a notepad or Evernote, and then keep diving into ever more exciting creative entrees, gorging on the smorgasbord of art available for consumption in the digital age. You may think by writing the idea down you have made sure it doesn't escape, but what about the raw materials of injected creativity which are now lost? It's like a dancer warming up for a dance session, and then sitting on the sofa and watching a documentary on History Channel. The effort put into the warm-up is wasted if the dancer doesn't then practice her dance routine, taking advantage of her warmed up muscles.

Creating art needs a delicate balance - we must take in enough input to keep the ideas flowing, keep our muscles warm and ready, and we must also exercise those muscles on a regular basis to be ready for the fabulous ideas when they come to us - fed on a mulch of great art. The past few weeks I had been dangerously close to overfilling the well, but a spate of productivity (driven by deadlines) in the past week, have withdrawn enough to keep the well just at three-quarters level. I believe that has earned me a curl-up in my bed with a good book - just as soon as I outline my next chapter...

Where are you on the spectrum - filling your well too little or too much?