5 new perspectives that should change the way you live

It’s almost certain that some of your views are fundamentally flawed and won’t do you any favors.

It’s almost certain that some of your views are fundamentally flawed and won’t do you any favors.

The following 5 ideas and perspectives have helped me to improve what I consider life quality.

#1 — Compromises are not a good thing.

“I can accept anything, except what seems to be the easiest for most people: the half-way, the almost, the just-about, the in-between.” — Ayn Rand

A compromise is a romantic idea. One might think it is the solution that satisfies everyone.

Not quite.

A compromise, by definition, is the one solution that satisfies no one really.

And more often than not, it is far away from being the best option. This holds true in a professional and personal context.

If you discuss strategy and tactics in a management round (or a political roundtable for that matter), it’s unlikely that a mixture of half-baked solutions will generate great outcomes.
Plus, it will probably leave everyone doubting the done deal.

Similarly, in a personal relationship, a compromise means nothing other than: no, you can’t do or have what you truly want; you can’t be who you truly want to be. Is that a strong foundation? You tell me.

Now, this doesn’t change the fact that compromises are sometimes necessary to get at least something done — and often, it works just fine.

But if you really want great outcomes in and for your life, compromising your way towards those simply won’t work.

#2 — Your formal education will not get you anywhere.

“Formal education will make you a living. Self education will make you a fortune.” — Jim Rohn

You have been or are still working hard for your degree? Good.

Despite the fact that not going to or dropping out of college seems to be cool, brave and super entrepreneurial right now — chances are, a good formal education and a well-respected degree will open doors for you.

But your ability to memorize facts, use buzzwords or apply some simple (or even sophisticated) math doesn’t enable you to develop passions, understand people, find out what is truly important to you or build a belief-system that will help you overcome challenges.

A formal education alone simply doesn’t enable you to navigate the world properly.

In large parts, our educational system still stems from the time of the industrial revolution.

It is optimized for creating people that function well in a collective structure, aiming to maximize output and economic growth.

It is not designed for raising self-determined individuals that seek to realize their own potential in all aspects of life — and know how to.

This can only happen through continuous self-education fuelled by curiosity and exploration.

Dive deep into topics of all kinds, read books, watch educational Youtube videos, study psychology and philosophy, try to understand physics, experiment with new hobbies, go to different places, meet different people.

#3 — You might need it but you don’t deserve it.

“Life does not respond to need. It responds to seed.” — Jim Rohn

Let me keep this one simple.

The world doesn’t care about what you want. It doesn’t care about what you need.

And it especially doesn’t care about what you think you deserve.

The only thing it cares about is actions.

It doesn’t matter how many beautifully designed memes you double tap on Instagram telling you that you deserve nothing but the best because you are perfect the way you are.

It’s bullshit.

You simply aren’t entitled to success, fulfillment or happiness simply because you are here.

It’s just not how the world works. And it never will be. Regardless of how many self-help books want to tell you otherwise.

Don’t get me wrong; I truly believe that accepting yourself the way you are is an essential ingredient for a happy and fulfilled life.

But loving yourself does not mean that you can escape responsibility for creating your own future by putting in the work that will ultimately lead to good things happening to you.

Realizing that you are the creator of your life is the only way to create.

Claiming full responsibility for the outcomes of our own life is the only way to achieve the results you want. Even if you are not the only force driving those outcomes.

You exist as you, in this day and age — full of opportunity. Which means you already won the lottery. If you don’t see what I mean, just check the odds of existing at all.

And since you are reading this on a smartphone, tablet or laptop, chances are you more than just your basic needs met already — which means you hit the jackpot.

Everything else is up to you.

You reap what you sow. Consistently.

#4 — Consistency is king.

“Commitment is doing the thing you said you would do, long after the mood you said it in has left you.” — George Zalucki

You are too damn used to having everything work immediately. So am I.

We rarely have to wait for anything, right? Just think Spotify, Netflix, YouTube, Prime Now, Uber.

Think about same day delivery and credit cards — you don’t even have to wait for your salary to come in!

We live in a culture of instant gratification and growing impatience.

If we start working out, we expect to see results within a week. If the scale doesn’t follow after hitting 2 out of the scheduled 4 sessions per week— well, then the training plan is obviously crap and we will try something new. Or quit.

It’s probably genetics.

If our new low carb, low fat, ketogenic, Paleo, vegan, slow carb, IIFYM, zone, kale, whatever diet doesn’t produce a six-pack after the fifth day of sticking to it for 80% with only 2 cheat days in between — then the diet is wrong, and we will just replace the ‘low carb’ with ‘low fat’.

This “no bread” thing is probably some yuppie bullshit anyway.

If our newly started meditation practice doesn’t bring us calm, happiness, and deep fulfillment after the third session of sitting with our minds rambling for 20 minutes — well, this esoteric wizardry clearly doesn’t work with us.

Ain’t nobody got time for that.

If we start a new job and don’t get promoted within the first 9 months of showing up on time — that’s obviously a dead end.

We’re destined to greater work, anyway.

You get the point.

We are developing an increasing inability to invest today into what will only bear fruit tomorrow, next week or next year.

Because we are ignorant to the fact that almost everything of true and sustainable value takes time to build.

Consistency is the art of putting in the work frequently and sustainably — and not getting discouraged by a lack of instant success or results.

It’s the simple mindset of sticking to your plans. Don’t lose sight of that.

#5 — You are not living in the now.

“The present moment is all you ever have. There is never a moment when your life is not ‘at this moment’.” — Eckhardt Tolle

You don’t have to be scholar of spiritual philosophy or a Buddhist monk to realize one thing:

Every time you get lost in either the past or the future, you are losing the most precious ‘thing’ you will ever have — the present moment.

Put aside your immediate “what kind of esoteric rambling is this?”-reaction for a moment and just ask yourself the following:

How often do I think about a past situation and play it through in my head over and over again?

This might be an incident at work or an argument with your spouse. And you do not only run it again in your head but you even edit the ending and create a fictitious scenario — one in which you are using better arguments or taking a firmer stance on your position.

Sounds familiar?

Or: How often do I find myself get lost in a potential future situation — minutes, hours or days from now?

Often, you are obsessively projecting into the future, mentally preparing for a potential argument or rehearsing your reaction to whatever someone might or might not do.

You have been there, right?

We all have.

Now, it seems obvious that we need the concept of past and future to navigate our daily life. And that is true.

But there are two very different interpretations and applications of past and future — one being very helpful, one being very harmful.

The first is what Eckhart Tolle in his landmark book The Power of Now calls ‘clock time’:

“Clock time is … making an appointment or planning a trip. It includes learning from the past … setting goals and working toward them. Predicting the future by means of patterns and laws … learned from the past and taking appropriate action on the basis of our predictions.”

In short, it’s using past and future to improve your life and make better decisions — in the present moment.

The second, the harmful form, is what Tolle calls ‘psychological time’:

“Psychological time … is identification with the past and continuous compulsive projection into the future. Psychological time … is always linked to a false sense of identity.”

In short, it’s abusing past and future to create an illusionary sense of self by mentally and emotionally descending into it.

And this takes away from the momentary happiness and contentment that is always possible.

The great Dale Carnegie reminded us of that “today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday”.

And who wants to argue with George Harrison when he said that “we can gain experience from the past — but we can’t relive it”?

So stop wasting your experiences of the present moment by dwelling on what could or would have happened or by getting lost in what might or should happen in the future.

Your Good Deed of the Day

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