Awareness is the gift of competence.

When we become a guru at something, we develop heightened awareness of every move in that field.

When we are expert tennis players, we have a great awareness of what’s happening in the court.

When we are expert presenters, we observe the subtleties of the room and the audience better than others.

And, when we are good at life, we are intensely aware of reality and our ability to shape it.

But, while we all work hard on developing the increased awareness that comes with competence, we do not often realise that the increased awareness needs to be accompanied with a bigger capacity for kindness.

The more expert you become, the greater the responsibility to be more humble.

When we lose that ability to be considerate and generous, we develop a fixed mindset and react to any perceived incompetence with arrogance, annoyance, and frustration.

However, if we err on the side of ensuring we always have more kindness for every ounce of awareness, we develop the ability to help others grow.

Of course, what makes this all very interesting is that this need not be viewed with the lens of “others.”

Kindness starts within. And, our ability to develop a growth mindset, thus, requires us to learn to be kind to ourselves.

When we are able to be that person for ourselves, we are able to help ourselves grow while also being that person for others.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

That is why it is more important to be kind than clever.

Kindness matters.