The Remarkable Fools Letter

The Remarkable Fools Letter

Share this post

The Remarkable Fools Letter
The Remarkable Fools Letter
kinetic energy and setting goals
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

kinetic energy and setting goals

Don't blemish the potential

Jim Dalling's avatar
Jim Dalling
Nov 29, 2021
∙ Paid
4

Share this post

The Remarkable Fools Letter
The Remarkable Fools Letter
kinetic energy and setting goals
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
4
Share

Kinetic and potential

As a young boy, I was pure energy. 

ZinG!

Away I would tumble, role and ride. Oh how I loved to ride my bike.

My preferred energy type was kinetic.

The others, older ones, preferred my energy in another state. 

The others, older ones, were quite happy to remark about what wonderful potential I had.

The key words there are “potential” and “one day”, meaning, not their responsibility and not now. Apparently, at some later date, all of this ‘potential’ was supposed to somehow magically become something.

Potential energy with regard to gravity is explained simply as mass times gravity times height.

As such, my guess that having ‘potential’ somehow meant that I was either heavy or high. Back when they spoke of my potential, I was neither. 

What the hell was supposed to happen to all of this ‘potential’? 

I imagine that the point was to reach the highest place I could, find a groove and, like a marble in those noisey marble mazes my kids used to make, find a rut / route that some…

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to The Remarkable Fools Letter to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 James Dalling
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More