What You Consume Influence You

We're shaped by what we consume. What goes through our senses, our eyes and ears, shape our mind while what goes through our mouth shape our body.

“Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles. Men understand this law in the natural world, and work with it; but few understand it in the mental and moral world (though its operation there is just as simple and undeviating), and they, therefore, do not cooperate with it.”

-As a Man Thinketh by James Allen

Years ago, I was told that if you filled a bottle with mustard the only thing that could get out of it is mustard. We ought to be mindful about what we consume as it can either pull us in a positive, or negative, direction. Consuming junk isn't as likely to have a positive impact on our bodies/mind than consuming good things.

You are who you are today partly by what you've consumed up to this point. If you like things as they are then continue on that path. If you don't, then make a change.

Wisdom Is The Most Important Thing?

"...those who live without being consumed by business or distractions can find their lives to be more than sufficient."
-Seneca, On the Shortness of Life

Seneca believed that pursuing wisdom was the most important exercise of the human experience. I'm of the opinion that health and relationship are also important to live a fulfilling life as without those life becomes an annoyance and lonely.

“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”
-Seneca

Monetary gains is important to live but one shouldn't dedicate their lives to it as it's relatively meaningless. There's no limit to the amount of things we can acquire and we carry nothing with us when we die.

Savings Could Be The Plan

“Why should God bring an opportunity your way if you are not in a position to take advantage of it? If you were God, to whom would you give opportunities? Wishful thinkers? Dreamers? Or planners?”
-Andy Stanley

If you don't have a plan for your life then being able to save money may open opportunities you otherwise wouldn't of had.

Years ago, I moved to a new city and the word on the street was that the local I.T. company had been sold. Before signing the papers, the owner had given his employees the opportunity to buy shares of the company - many became overnight millionaires in the deal.
I always wondered what happened to those that weren't able to take advantage of the opportunity... 

While life is short, and we only have the one, we ought to save part of what we earn. If an opportunity ever present itself then we'll be ready.

Self-Improvement In the A.I. Age

A.I. is an accumulation of all human knowledge - it's not possible to know more than it does. 

What does that mean for Self-Improvement?

Self-Improvement is about improving the self. What will "self" be once we're all interconnected with A.I.? What will there be to improve if we all have access to all the information we've ever produced? Will we be better once we're all starting from the same point? Will we just be copies of each other?

Even today, some people don't make any major decisions without first consulting an A.I. However life is unpredictable - can a user blame A.I. for making the wrong decisions? Will the user learn from the A.I.'s mistake the same as he would from learning from his own mistakes?

There are a lot of unknowns about the future of A.I.'s relationship with humanity. For now, Self-Improvement still has value and A.I. can be our greatest assistant.

Focused Learning

"Nobody knows what knowledge will prove to be of use, and what is destined to be useless."

-John Stuart Mill

Most don’t learn beyond what is necessary for them to survive and surviving is all that they do.

Some people indulge too much in hobbies. If you can name all Star Wars characters, but can’t pay your bills, then you’ve been learning about the wrong things. Hobbies are only meant to be temporary escapes: They’re not meant to take over someone’s life.

In order to thrive in the Information, dawn of the A.I., Age it is important that we continuously learn about things that will support our lives both at home and professionally.

Learn about your work, how to be a better partner, about how to become a better member of society. 

Illusionary Education

“You need teaching for writing and reading; even more so for life, as you are born a slave to your senses and passions, without true knowledge or reason.”

-Marcus Aurelius

One of the biggest problem with today's society is that we're swimming in information and most of it is false. The consumer of this information doesn't know the difference but still feels educated.

“If you have bad information, you’ll make bad decisions. It’s that simple.”

-Peter Drucker

The Internet is filled with studies on any conspiracy theories imaginable. Whether it be vaccination, secret societies, aliens, flat earth... there are groups of people that have dedicated their lives to further those claims. Whether or not they're true doesn't matter as much as they need to catch the attention as this is how they make money.

Education is important as long as it comes from reputable sources.

Education Is Your Responsibility

"A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read."

-Mark Twain

According to abclifeliteracy.ca, 49% of Canadians adults have literacy skills below Highschool level. Reading is a lost art. We should never underestimate the power of a good book. In the words of Spencer W. Kimball "Man alone, of all creatures of earth, can change his thought pattern and become the architect of his destiny." 

The making of a man isn't determined by the school he attended as much as what he's learning on his own accord. To paraphrase Oliver Demille, from his book "A Thomas Jefferson Education", schools are responsible to train people to do specific/productive tasks in the society they operate in while it's the responsibility of the individual to educate themselves to become thinkers and leaders.

You don't have enough of a lifetime to become as wise as you can be relying solely on your own experience. Reading allows you to acquire part of someone else's life experience. Start reading for 15 min a day and go from there.

Reducing The Chances of Depression

 “Every emotion is weak at first, but then it gains strength as it progresses. It’s easier to prevent it from starting than to stop it once it has begun.” -Seneca

To simplify Seneca’s words: Prevention is easier than medication. The best way to fight depression is to live in such a way as to minimize the risk of developing depression. Some things, such as loss, are outside of our control and can cause depression. Many things, however, are within our control and we simply fail to associate them with depression. If we don’t exercise, socialize, eat properly, sleep well, or go outside... over time, these bad habits will increase the likelihood we’ll develop depression. Often depression is, like obesity, the result of bad habits which mean that a change in lifestyle may be require in order to change our outlook on life. Mental health, like physical health, requires effort in order to be maintained. Let’s insure that what’s within our control is as good as we have the energy to make it.

On Peace

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson “The most important thing for peace of mind is never to do wrong. Those who lack self-control lead disturbed and chaotic lives; their crimes are matched by their fears, and they never find peace.” -Seneca Peace also comes from living a virtuous life. It’s more difficult for a thief to find peace than someone who lived a virtuous life as he not only has internal troubles but external ones as well - every day comes with the torment of “getting caught”. Live virtuously... “A person suffers more than necessary when he suffers before it is necessary.” -Seneca Peace is learning to live in the moment. Looking into the past brings regrets while looking in the future, at what may or may not be, brings anxiety. Live in the moment... “We are all subject to the same terms: whoever is granted the privilege of birth is also destined to die. Time separates us, but death brings us together. The time between our first day and our last is uncertain and always changing: if measured by its troubles, it seems long even to a young person; if measured by its speed, it seems short even to an old person. Everything is unstable, unpredictable, and more changeable than the weather. All things are tossed about and change into their opposites at the whim of Fortune; in this chaotic world, the only certainty is death.” -Seneca In order to find peace in this life one must overcome their fear of death. To understand life’s unpredictability and finite nature is to understand peace. What begins also has an end whether this end is tomorrow or a thousands years from now. Death will come... “Every day and every hour remind us of how insignificant we are, and they keep showing us in new ways how much we forget our own frailty; then, as we make plans for eternity, they force us to glance back at Death.” -Seneca References:

• “Letters from a Stoic” by Lucious Seneca
• “Self-Reliance and other essays” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Frustration of Lifelong Students

“To win popular approval, you must use deceit and make yourself like the crowd; they won’t approve of you if they don’t see you as one of their own. However, what you think of yourself is much more important than what others think of you. The approval of unworthy people can only be won by unworthy means.”
-Seneca

There comes a point in a lifelong student's life where he'll turn his back on popular media in favor of education. Time spent watching such things as sports is time that could be invested in diligent study. Through this, the student looses part of his ability to relate with those that are still connected to popular media.

Lifelong students have to submit themselves to some of the interest of the masses as not doing so negatively impact their ability to influence. A person is much more likely to open up to you if you share an interest with them.

This almost feels like we need to put on a face in order to be able to connect with other people.

“I find myself pondering how many people train their bodies and how few train their minds! Crowds flock to the games, which are mere entertainment, while the places where good and noble arts are taught are almost empty.”

-Seneca

Seneca eloquently identified this problem more than 2000 years ago and nothing changed since. At no other time in our history has knowledge been so widely available (Seneca's work is available for free on the IOS book app) yet it did very little to help bring knowledge forward as the majority prefer to entertain themselves to death rather than going through self-education.

"Today we come across an individual who behaves like an automaton, who does not know or understand himself, and the only person that he knows is the person that he is supposed to be, whose meaningless chatter has replaced communicative speech, who's synthetic smile has replaced genuine laughter, and whose sense of dull despair has taken the place of genuine pain. Two statements may be said concerning this individual. One is that he suffers from defects of spontaneity and individuality which may seem to be incurable. At the same time it may be said of him he does not differ essentially from the millions of the rest of us who walk upon this earth."
-Eric Fromm

The Reader's Edge

“If you read a book a week, in a year you’ll have read 52 books. In ten years 520 books. You’ll be in the top 1% of your field. You’ll be more motivated, better educated; you’ll become the leader in your field.”

-Jim Rohn

If an employer has a choice to hire 1 out of 2 exact same people only one read 1 self-improvement book while the other didn't. Which person is most likely to be hired?

The value of a book is difficult to quantify however we instinctively know that the person who reads has "something" over non-readers. 

While reading can be an advantage, it means very little if there's no way to market it. Nobody knows which book you've read simply by looking at you. We've got to build ourselves a brand to better sell the idea that we're someone that spend a great deal of our time honing our skills. We need ways to stand out, communicate our ideas clearly, be bold.

"Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still."

-Chinese Proverb

School is for Reading and Inspiration

"There is nothing which an better deserve our patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness."

-George Washington (Address to Congress, January 8, 1790)

Public school will be, to some, their only exposure to a system of education. If the educational system has failed to teach them how to read, or inspire to self-educate, then the system has failed them.

Learning is supposed to be fun...

While it's true that some things can be difficult/stressful to learn, if all the student remembers from school is anguish or boredom then how likely will he be to pickup a book later on in life?

“In a world in transition, students and teachers both need to teach themselves one essential skill—learning how to learn.”

-Carl Sagan

Self-Education and Choosing Political Leaders

Wars are fought against imaginary enemies created by leaders seeking more power. The problem isn't that those leaders have a voice to speak evil but that they're able to find an audience. All it takes is for one delusional President to spread lies for a friendly country to turn into an enemy.

Enough is enough...

Because I spend a great deal of my time on self-education, I'm now able to identify some of the absurdities being shared by Dictators. If more people prioritized their self-education, those charlatans would never be given positions of power let alone be able to spread their lies.

Would a Country benefit from screening their political leaders?

Some workplace require employees to go through security clearance, drug test, internal reviews... wouldn't it make sense to implement the same for our political leaders? Before we give a leader keys to a Country's secret, couldn't we ask:

• An analysis by a renowned psychologist to determine what are the ulterior motives (if any) of the individual..
• A security clearance...
• A physical evaluation to determine if the individual is fit to lead...
• Drug test...
• test test test...

Is this too much to ask? In-lieu of screening exercises, we get bickering under the guise of "political debates" and that's how we're supposed to choose our leaders.

“If we can’t think for ourselves, if we’re unwilling to question authority, then we’re just putty in the hands of those in power. But if the citizens are educated and form their own opinions, then those in power work for us. In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the enveloping darkness.“

-Carl Sagan

Creating our Ideology

"Mere education, however, is not enough. The important thing is the kind of education. We often hear that "education is power", but we need to remember that it may be power for life and human welfare or power for death and destruction. We can teach people to be selfish and narrow, or we can give them an education which broadens their outlook and makes them cooperative members of a world society."
-P. 212 of "Living Issues in Philosophy" book by Harold H. Titus and Marilyn S. Smith

As a kid going through school we don't really think about what sort of education we're getting. Are we directly, or indirectly, programmed to hate specific groups? Are we being influenced beyond words and numbers? Are we getting a good education?

Everyone has an ideology, including teachers, that they either consciously or unconsciously push unto others. Our responsibility is to create an ideology of our own based on experiences and what we teach ourselves.

While it's great that we live in a country where education is free, the responsibility to learn falls on us. We are responsible to take in what make sense and cut out what doesn't in order to live the sort of life that we want to live.
What is offered, for free, is essentially the basic. If everyone knows what you know then you're not standing out above the crowd. What you learn is important.

Choosing Our Problems

I once attended a leadership seminar where the speaker said "those of you who are single have single problems and those of you who are in a relationship have relationship problems... part of life is about choosing the sort of problems that you want."

Life is FILLED with problems and we get to choose some to take care of. If we play soccer, we're responsible to resolve soccer related problems. If we choose a specific career path, then we choose to resolve problems related to that career.

A friend of mine said that she wished she was married as it would resolved most of her current problems. While that may be true, marriage will introduce a set of new problems to deal with.

Of course, sometimes life forces problems unto us, such as a disease, that we have to deal with. We must learn to deal with our problems and choose the ones that best fit who we are.

The Many Distractions of Today

Never in our history have we had so much entertainment. This created a generation of individuals that knows more about the likes of “Star Wars” and very little about anything else. Important subjects, such as Politics, Economy, Law... are pushed aside in favour of imaginary worlds. This creates individuals that are ill-equipped to traverse the obstacles of the societies that allowed them these pleasures.

It is said that during the fall of the Roman Empire, as the Barbarian were at the gates of the city, the general populace wanted the Emperor to initiate "games" in the colosseum. All they wanted, as their society collapsed, was to be entertained. 

Some may say that "Ignorance is bliss" but that isn't true. Ignorance opens the door to be taken advantage of. Freedom comes with responsibility and that responsibility is to be educated enough to recognize when Freedoms are being taken away. Similar to the Romans, if all we care about is our distractions, while the barbarians are at our doors, then we may end up loosing our freedoms.

Allow yourself to be entertainment but also remember that you, as a citizen, have a responsibility to uphold the freedom that was given to you.

Everyone is a “Work in Progress”

I recently met someone who put a great deal of effort into her self-improvement. She felt like she was the only person in the world that was as “flawed” as she was hence why she “required to be fixed”.

The reality is that everyone is a “Work in Progress” and few people realize it with even fewer people putting in the effort to improve themselves. It’s extremely rare to find someone with the desire to become the best version of themselves.

If self-improvement doesn’t feel like a positive experience it’s because it’s approached from the perspective of “everything about myself is wrong and I need to fix it”.
For self-improvement to be a positive experience, the author must first understand that the raw material is already great and whatever effort is put in will make it shine brighter. 

The first step is to find peace with who you are currently. You’re not perfect but you have redeeming qualities that makes you great. The flaws you have aren’t as big as you make them out to be.

Mindful Associations

Understanding the power of influence is an important step of the self-improvement journey. One of my mentors used to tell me that if you enter a room with 2 idiots - 3 idiots will come out. This was an example of the power of influences.

If all of your friends are smokers, than chances are high that you will also smoke. Of course, if you understand the power of influence, then you can use this to your advantage by looking to associate yourself with people of the qualities that you're looking to attain.

“Get a millionaire mentor. Most of us were brought up middle class or poor and then hold ourselves to the limits and ideas of that group. I have been studying millionaires to duplicate what they did. Get your own personal millionaire mentor and study them. Most rich people are extremely generous with their knowledge and their resources.” 

-Yvon Chouinard

My mentor also told me that he was able to determined my income based on the average income of my 5 closest friends. We can't deny that we're likely more easily influenced than we like to believe that we are. Be careful who you hangout with as you may end up like them.

How To Develop Critical Thinking

"Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action."

-louisville.edu

In short, critical thinking is the ability to question the information presented to you.

Reinforce your critical thinking abilities with reading...

If you read non-fiction books of similar subjects you will encounter situations where there's contradictions either amongst the authors or with your own experience. You, the reader, will need to think about who's right/wrong and that exercise is what ultimately develops your critical thinking abilities. 

Critical thinking is a lost art because not enough people are reading or being exposed to situations that requires them to think critically. Society suffers when there's not enough critical thinkers.

The Torch of Knowledge

We must learn from our ancestors, sprinkle in some of our own knowledge, and pass it on to the next generation hoping that they’ll do the same. Shame is having to relearn a lesson from the history of our civilization. We must keep pushing our understanding, perfect it, make it easier to learn, for the benefit of students that will follow in our footsteps.

Life is short - we are but carriers of the torch of knowledge. We’re but messengers in the canvas of our civilization.

Read, learn every day, become all that you’re supposed to be, share your lessons with the hopes that someone will learn from your mistakes. Make tomorrow better from your contribution.