Do Not Be Intimidated by Bad Thinking

There's a wonderful book by Alain de Botton called, The Consolations of Philosophy. One of Botton's distinct gifts as a writer and thinker is his ability to take complicated and often daunting subject matters and make them lucid, and dare I say fun. 

In the beginning of his book he talks about the importance of thinking for one self and how doing so is often not popular. 

He tells the story of Socrates, the classical Greek philosopher sentenced to death for corrupting the youth and failing to worship the city's gods. 

Not surprisingly, the image that probably popped into your head was the painting done by Jacques-Louis David in Paris in 1786. The image shows Socrates surrounded by distraught friends as he defiantly prepares for his death.

"I am not going to alter my conduct, not even if I have to die a hundred deaths," Socrates supposedly told a jury.

To many the boldness of Socrates may be viewed as recklessness. He did after all have several opportunities to avoid death, namely by repudiating his beliefs and refraining from public discourse.

He refused.

To point he was trying to make is what's popular is not always right. 

His jury of "peers" consisted of 500 men. 220 decided Socrates was not guilty, while the other 280 felt differently. 

But what was their reasoning based on?

By the way,the qualifications to serve on the jury in Athens around the year 399 BC were the following:

-- being male
-- having citizenship

Talk about a low bar.

In other words, having the capacity to at least try and interpret why something was true by considering why it's alternatives were false was not a pre-requisite. 

Which makes me wonder if it is for many of us today. 

Most people give greater thought to how to make their favorite dish for a dinner party than whether the beliefs they've adopted are actually their own. 

The truth is, the act of pursuing mental and moral well-being hinges on our ability to discount the unfounded link between approval of others and the TRUTH. 

The two are NOT binary. 

Botton says, "The validity of an idea or action is determined not by whether it is widely believed or widely reviled but by whether it obeys the rules of logic."

Courage, as he puts it, is intelligent endurance. It is the capacity to understand that truth is not about the number of people who may oppose it but rather their reasoning for doing so. 

Do we have the courage to look BEHIND the critique of others? Ourselves?

The ability to not buckle under times of unpopularity takes courage, which is cultivated with practice. It's not about blindly clinging to our beliefs for the sake of defiance, but challenging others, however many, to prove its premise through logic, not emotion.

In the end, it seems Socrates was vindicated. Shortly after his death the mood around Athens changed like a season. 

The three men who brought the charges against Socrates were supposedly banished, one was even condemned to death. Meanwhile, a bronze statue of Socrates was crafted by the sculpture Lysippos.

Athens, as Socrates predicted, came around and saw things the way he did.

The lesson is to not be intimidated by bad thinking NO MATTER who, or from how many it comes from. 

The Great Lessons of Travel

Shaky WiFi, waiting for water and power to be restored, and a glacial paced immigration line. These are all events I've had to wait for, while traveling. I'm embarrassed to admit I was also impatient throughout much of each ordeal.

But each incident made me take some serious personal inventory and appreciate the world does not work on my timetable. Through cultivating greater patience I also deepened my perspective. How could I complain when these minor hiccups in my journey wouldn't have even cracked the top ten list of challenges many of these communities faced on a daily basis?

Whenever traveling, whether near or far, remember to be endlessly curious, bold, and flexible enough in your thinking to reap the many lessons seeing this world has to offer you.

Go See for Yourself

"When you go to Costa Rica you'll notice that it's all about money there. They're not willing to just help you out."

"I found the people in Nicaragua not very warm. There's a hardness to them."

"You just came from Edinburgh?! We actually help people here in Glasgow. Nobody'll lend you a hand over there."

These were comments people once made to me about Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Edinburgh, Scotland. But after visiting each place I can comfortably say I found none of these proclamations to be true.

I still marvel at how we'll cast some broad and often inaccurate narrative about a community based on our limited experience there. 

Whenever I'd tell people from out of state I was from Oakland, California I'd get an incredulous glance. Invariably, the follow-up was, "Oh, I hear it's dangerous there." And every time I'd think, Come on out and see for yourself. It's a remarkable place with remarkable people doing remarkable things.

The truth is, when we don't take the time to see for ourselves our thinking gets lazy. Our ability to make judgments for ourselves atrophies and we stop bothering to even question what's being said. This is EXTRAORDINARILY dangerous because it leads to division, negative perceptions about people we know little to nothing about, and stifles our ability to thrive as a community.

Don't just take someone else's words for it. 

GO. SEE. FOR. YOURSELF.

IBD's 10 Secrets to Success

Investor Business Daily has spent years analyzing leaders and successful people in all walks of life. Most have 10 traits that, when combined, can turn dreams into reality. 

1. HOW YOU THINK IS EVERYTHING. Always be positive. Think success, not failure. Beware of a negative environment.

2. DECIDE UPON YOUR TRUE DREAMS AND GOALS: Write down your specific goals and develop a plan to reach them.

3. TAKE ACTION: Goals are nothing without action. Don't be afraid to get started. Just do it.

4. NEVER STOP LEARNING: Go back to school or read books. Get training and acquire skills.

5. BE PERSISTENT AND WORK HARD: Success is a marathon, not a sprint. Never give up.

6. LEARN TO ANALYZE DETAILS: Get all the facts, all the input. Learn from your mistakes.

7. FOCUS YOUR TIME AND MONEY: Don't let other people or things distract you.

8. DON'T BE AFRAID TO INNOVATE; BE DIFFERENT: Following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity. 

9. DEAL AND COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE EFFECTIVELY: No person is an island. Learn to understand and motivate others.

10. BE HONEST AND DEPENDABLE; TAKE RESPONSIBILITY: Otherwise number 1-9 won't matter.

The Long Commute

I once read that American entrepreneur and founder of Spanx, Sara Blakely, often takes the long way to work. Admittedly, she only lives about 15 minutes from her office in Atlanta, but often opts for a roundabout commute. The reason? Driving helps her come up with new ideas. A recent search reveals that she's worth roughly a billion dollars so perhaps she's on to something.

Her strategy also made me think of the power of a quite stroll, or taking just a few minutes of silence to take personal inventory. Ideas that have been desperately trying to bubble up from our subconscious suddenly have time to materialize. You begin to think with greater clarity and may often stumble upon ways to better strategize the different arenas of your life.

The power of a "thinking session" is not to be underestimated. You may be surprised with what you come up with.

Hope Is Not Enough

It's great to incorporate affirmations and positive thinking into your daily approach to life. We could all probably use a little more inspiration.

But it's also important to recognize that hope simply isn't enough. It must be integrated with a grounded and well-thought out strategy for reaching your goals.

And of course, there is no substitute for hard hard work. All the uplifting declarations you make to yourself don't work unless you do.  

Release

The other night I met up with two close friends at a popular restaurant in town. We played pool, listened to great music after commandeering the jukebox, and eventually made our way for a late night snack.

As we sat waiting for our food, one of my friends began explaining how frustrated she was with the lack of support she'd been receiving from her friends and family on her career ambitions. She'd worked incredibly over the years and to anyone paying attention it looked as though she was closer than ever to finally seeing her dreams realized. We offered her support and constructive feedback when she needed it. 

But, what struck me most about listening to her was the value of releasing - letting go of your grievances, setbacks, and hangups with a supportive group of like-minded people who have your back.

Find those who will listen, not impart their own way of thinking, offer a word, but most importantly an ear to what you have to say. It'll go a long way.