Being Kind
Kind people acknowledge the fabric of reality through creative conflict.
"Sometimes you have to be a lion, so you can be the lamb you really are." [1]
KIND snacks filed a citizen's petition with the FDA to challenge their regulation about unsaturated fats being unhealthy. Their founder Dan Lubetzky, had this to say about their reasoning for doing so:
“A lot of people confuse kindness with weakness. And part of the reason is that they think kindness and being nice are synonymous, but they’re very different ... You can be nice and not cause trouble...To be kind, you need to solve problems... you need to be honest. And to be honest, you need to have the strength and the courage to say what needs to be said at the right time." [2]
What he was saying was that nice people ignore the fabric of reality by being passive. They delay and sustain their discomfort to feel comfort in the moment. Kind people acknowledge the fabric of reality through creative conflict. [2]
They do this by stepping into discomfort. As a result, they enjoy comfort over a longer time horizon for demonstrating strength and courage.
Naval explained this concept succinctly when he said:
"...when you're not honest with somebody else, or when you even withhold something in your mind, what you've done is you've created a second thread in your head that has to stay active, keeping track of what you've said versus what you're really thinking. That takes you out of the moment and brings you unhappiness over time. You will not realize it at that moment itself, but it will create stress and distraction."
Another Example of Kindness:
Paul Grewal (CTO of Coinbase) described how Coinbase is demonstrating kindness by suing the SEC, when he said:
"...there are moments when it’s important to simply be public about the disagreements we may have from time to time, and also be very clear that the disagreements are always in good faith, with respect, and with the intention of being able to work even more closely together as partners in the future.” [3]
Appendix
[1]
[2] https://mastersofscale.com/daniel-lubetzky/…
[3] https://twitter.com/iampaulgrewal/status/1655667730186645506?s=20