The turning point in the Kung Fu Panda movie is when Po (the panda) and Master Shifu realize that there is no point expecting him to be like all of the other fighters.
Po was fat and perennially thinking about food.
And, it turned out that all they needed to do is create a training regime that involved using food as motivation.
I’ve seen parents, teachers, and managers attempt to use comparisons to motivate others. While it works sometimes (in the short run at any rate), these comparisons are blunt tools. They encourage folks to attempt to “be like others.”
The magic happens when we learn to work with our own unique cocktail of strengths, weaknesses, and motivations instead.
Much like Po.
