The map is not the territory

Alfred Korzybski, the scholar and inventor of the field of general semantics, brilliantly made this observation:

"A map is not the territory it represents, but, if correct, it has a similar structure to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness."

-Alfred Korzybski, Science and Sanity

The idea he is trying to express is that we often confuse our representation of a thing with the thing itself. Representations are imperfect.

For example, a Google map may say there is a new location of my favorite ice cream shop nearby, but when I drive there, I find out that it isn't open yet. Sadness ensues.

Okay, that was a trivial example.

But, it's easy to do this with serious pursuits as well.

My Going 1099 book gives you a process for getting your first 1099 gig. The process is the map.

But the map is not the territory.

Networking is a lot messier than I make it seem in the book. It may seem like you just talk to 10-20 people and then somehow get a 1099 gig.

The reality is that people blow you off, you have awkward conversations that go nowhere, and for 60% of your meetings you feel uncomfortable because it seems so artificial. Then, a random 1099 gig that you didn't anticipate pops up from one of those awkward meetings that you thought went nowhere.

The map gives us unrealistic expectations of how things should be and then the reality of the territory destroys our motivation.

The map is still useful, but you need to remind yourself that it's just a map, and that reality is more complicated and filled with obstacles than you anticipated.

Want the full playbook? Check out Going 1099.