The So Called "Experts"

"Many people welcome authority because they have little confidence in themselves or are intellectually lazy: to accept the word of someone else is to take the easy way of gaining comfort and assurance. [...] Such conformist tendencies modern high-pressure advertising and propaganda." - From “Living Issues in Philosophy – Sixth Edition” book by Harold Titus / Marilyn Smith

We don’t need to be an expert at something to share an opinion on it. If it is said with enough confidence, it can be perceived as truth from the uneducated ear. It frustrates me that there are so many so called “experts” who purposely misinform listeners to benefit their own agenda.

“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” - Abraham Lincoln

There can be no long term viability for business that initially used deceit in order to make a sale. Once the deceit is found, the business can no longer prosper and it can also lead to legal trouble.

If you are the author of such deceit, I would encourage you to reconsider your business plan. I would also encourage the consumer to not make an emotional purchase and to do their research before making any kind of purchase.

What Does “Being Educated” Mean?

The best definition I found on “Being Educated” was from the “Living Issues In Philosophy” book by Harold H. Titus and Marilyn S. Smith. The below is a resume of what can be found on page 220-222.

“Mere possession of a diploma - or any other symbol for that matter - is no proof of education.

1. To be educated means to know at least one field with some thoroughness…
2. To be educated means to be able to communicate with others…
3. To be educated means to be able to live in a changing word and to entertain new ideas…
4. To be educated means to be able to get along with others…
5. To be well-educated means to be able to entertain oneself, to develop a rich inner life and a wide range of appreciations and inner controls…
6. To be educated is to be sensitive to the larger spiritual order of which man is part…”

Do you agree with the above description? For a more detailed description, be sure to be up the book.

Knowledge is Power - Or is It?

“Knowledge is Power.” -Francis Bacon

Knowledge by itself means nothing if you don’t do anything with it. If you know how to cure cancer but don't do anything with that information - what good is it to you or the world?

“In all this it is key to understand that to be a leader, you have to do more than sit in a corner knowing what’s right but never expressing that knowledge or using it to fix wrongs in meaningful ways, by actually doing something about it.
And you should follow the same pattern when you’ve been wrong - be wrong in the right ways: be wrong because you were boldly standing for what you believed in, and rush in with boldness to make things right again when you realize you are in error.”
-Page 77 of “ Revolutionary Leadership” by LIFE Leadership

It Pays To Plan Ahead

Whenever you’re in a situation where you desperately want something to occur, you’re setting yourself up to be taken advantage of.

“People who plan ahead will never be at the mercy of those who don’t.”
-Claude Hamilton

How many times have you sold an item for far less than you originally intended just because you needed the sale?
On the flip-side of things, you will always get the best deals out of people who desperately want to sell you something.

While we can’t plan the unexpected, there are many things that we have control over. The better prepared we are, the less likely we’ll be on the losing side of a given situation.

Leadership Exposure

The great thing about leadership positions is that it exposes you to your faults. Of course, you can only do your best but being in the spotlight will make you prone to criticism from those around you.

For a leader, a bad decision is better than no decisions at all. Followers lookup to you and, for many, they won't move until you tell them where to go (because they assume you know what you're doing and they don't like making mistakes or being in the spotlight themselves). If you ever make a mistake in the process, you can be sure someone will point it out to you.

There was a time when I believed people would fight for leadership positions. Today I realize that not many wants to be a leader let alone are qualified for it.
This was made evident to me when the company I work for was looking for someone to take on additional responsibilities for the social committee. It felt like people were on a death sentence more so than anything else.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the perception that there is something far more important at stake."
-Robert Morrisette

I don't necessarily like to be in the spotlight but I have a burning desire to get things done and there's nobody around to take the bull by the horns - so I'll do it.