Using Polarities

When we think through problems or areas we’re stuck on, polarities represent the two ends of spectrum of our thinking. Often we’re taught to think in binary terms. We are together with someone or broken up, we are hard working or we are lazy, we are happy or we are sad, however the truth is that in almost anything in life there is no binary…only a spectrum that we move along.

Nonetheless, poles, polarities “polar opposites” help us establish a spectrum by which to understand where we are. So they are useful as a framework for understanding ourselves better.

Like a race that has a starting line and a finish line, it helps to know which you are closer to in your journey. 

I wanted to lay out some standard polarities that can help you assess where you are. These polarities are not base-ground truth, meaning, they are not “real.” Think of them more like a useful framework that we’ve created for ourselves to describe and think through how we’re feeling. You can think of where you are between or on a pole based on how you feel. So it’s more about experiencing than it is accomplishing or arriving. 

I think it was Kapil Gupta who said, “The answer is never 1 or 10, it’s usually something like 3.25487.”