“The same building blocks can create very different outcomes.”
Hey Rollers,
I went down a bit of a rabbit hole recently reading about peptides.
At a very basic level, peptides are chains of amino acids linked together in different ways to create different functions in the body. Same core building blocks, but a different arrangement provides a very different outcome.
Not too dissimilar to Lego.
A Lego set can be broken apart and rebuilt into something completely different without needing entirely new pieces. Same blocks, different structures, depending on how creative we get with the arrangement.
Now, I hate searching for a lesson in everything, but I do think a lot of us move through life assuming we need completely new pieces in order to change something meaningful about ourselves.
A new environment. A new opportunity. A new this. A new that.
But more often than not, the raw materials are already there. The issue is usually the arrangement.
By this I mean the patterns, habits, and relationships between the pieces.
I’ve seen this constantly in coaching.
People often arrive believing they need to become someone else in order to move forward, when in reality they usually need to look at how the existing pieces of their life have been assembled.
The same discipline that creates burnout in one arrangement can create consistency and freedom in another.
The same ambition that drives unhealthy comparison can, when rearranged slightly, become meaningful contribution.
The same sensitivity that once felt like weakness can become emotional awareness, empathy, and presence.
Same pieces. Different structure. And, you guessed it, different outcomes.
I think this is where curiosity becomes so important.
Curious people are willing to take things apart.
Not because they hate themselves, but because they’re interested enough to understand how things have been put together in the first place.
That takes honesty and a fair amount of vulnerability.
It’s easier to protect the structure you already know than to dismantle it and risk building something unfamiliar.
But curiosity creates movement.
It allows you to ask:
“What if this part of me isn’t the problem?”
“What if it’s just where I’ve placed it?”
“What if the thing I’m trying to remove actually needs to be redirected instead?”
So maybe growth is less about replacing yourself and more about rearranging what’s already there.
Maybe you don’t need entirely new pieces.
Maybe you just need the curiosity to build differently.
Until next week.
Keep rolling.
Justin 👊
Take Action in 3 Minutes:
Think about one part of yourself you’ve been treating as a flaw.
Now ask:
Instead of trying to remove the piece, consider where else it could fit.