Of late, I’ve been doing a bit of reading up on the history of philosophy, and came across some information regarding Utilitarianism, and it got me thinking….
For the purpose of this post, I’m not going to go into detail about Utilitarianism other than say it is a philosophical moral theory that focuses on the RESULTS, or CONSEQUENCES, of our actions, and treats INTENTIONS as irrelevant.
For sure consequences are what we have to live with, they are the results of action or inaction that effect us and others, after the events that lead to them, but should intentions be considered to greater extent than they often are?
If someone else’s actions result in you becoming worse off in some way, either economically or emotionally, should you focus on what that person intended to happen or on their execution and consequently, the consequences you are left with.
For instance, if a friend is trying to do you a good turn, by say, reuniting you with a relative you’ve lost contact with, and as surprise, arranges a surprise meeting, but when you’re confronted with that person, you are angry having been put in an uncomfortable situation. Should you react to the consequences of their intervention, or focus on their good intention.
If a friend convinces you to invest money into a business venture, but they fail to make a success of it, and it ends up costing you your investment, do you fixate on their inept execution or their intention of doing their best to make a success of the venture.
I guess, how the friend deals with their failings, in either of the situations detailed above, has some baring on your response. If in the latter example, the friend tries to hide the fact that the business is failing, is dishonest about their business acumen, doesn’t show remorse when it all goes pear shaped, or isn’t prepared to try to make the situation right, will affect how you feel about it, and them, in the end.
It’s true that many people will take a balanced, considered view, appreciating all the aspects that contributed to the failing, but there will equally be those that fixate on the consequences, and find it difficult to look beyond these.
Empathy and compassion is required in order to be able take the other persons view, and to be able to seriously consider their intent, at least as much as their inadequate or inappropriate execution. This can be especially difficult in the wake consequences that negatively impact you.
Empathy and compassion, come naturally to some people, but require some development in others. It’s important to remember that we have all been guilty of doing things that didn’t turn out as planned, and which impacted other people.
Generally, when things go wrong, the intention is seldom for it to be so, however we should always be mindful of our actions and their impact on others, and generally they will impact someone else at some point. Think your actions through thoroughly before taking them, and be more empathetic to others when their actions don’t turn out as intended.
I came across this crash course in Philosophy a while ago and thought it might be interesting for you to check out. The whole course is accessable below. The videos are embedded as a playlist so will follow on from one another automatically, so sit back and enjoy.
Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski nails this explanation about the difference between Ego love (fish love) and True love…
“Why are you eating that fish?”
“Because I love fish!”
“Oh you love the fish, that’s why you took it out of the water and killed it and boiled it.”
“Don’t tell me you love fish, you love yourself.”
“And because the fish tastes good to you.”
“That’s why you took it out of the water and killed and boiled it.”
“So much of what is love is fish love.”
True love isn’t about what you get from another, it’s about what you give of yourself to another, everything else is FISH LOVE.
When a young couple fall in love,
They see in each other someone who can satisfy their emotional and physical needs,
Each is looking out for their own needs,
The other becomes a vehicle for their own gratification,
External love is not what you’re going to get but what you’re going to give,
People make the mistake of thinking you give to those that you love, the real answer is you love those to which you give,
If I give something to you, I’ve invested part of myself in you, and because self love is a given, there’s now part of me I love, in you,
True love is a love of giving not a love of receiving.
If you want to learn more about spirituality and the Ego, check out our guide here.
If you’ve ever dug into the subject of SPIRITUALITY, you’ll no doubt realise that the aim of spirituality is about becoming ENLIGHTENED, which is the process of bringing awareness to the fact that most of mankind’s woes come from his enslavement by the EGO.
The Ego is best described as a state of mind which is completely IDENTIFIED WITH THOUGHT, which means that thoughts, particular rigid thought patterns and habits such as beliefs and values, become part of WHO WE THINK WE ARE, that is, we invest it with our sense of self. Furthermore we mistake our thoughts about the world around us, to be the world around us, rather than just thoughts about the world around us, which is all they actually are, and in so doing, we reduce everything to a mind-constructed abstraction, grossly simplified to aid understanding and navigation.
When ENLIGHTENED, the world becomes a vibrant, ecosystem of wonder. The two dimensional, simplified version, we held to be THE TRUTH, opens up into a vastness of multi-sensory, wonderfulness, that brings with it a sense of awe. You come away from the necessity of thought, into the present moment where LIFE unfolds. There comes with it a number of realisations…
Everything has a purpose and a place
Good and evil, up and down, right and wrong, front and back, ally and enemy, each by its very existence inferring its polar opposite. Alan watts referred to it as “the game of black and white” in his book THE BIBLE. It’s all part of the same thing, intrinsically interconnected, and necessary to make up the rich tapestry of life.
Life is a game
You shouldn’t sweat the small stuff, after all, it’s all small stuff. Problems look big from close up. Zoom out and see the bigger picture. Everything looks small from a 50 thousand foot view.
FEAR is the route of all evil
We think FEAR keeps us alive and it does to some extent, but when out of control it is as likely to be the agent of death. Fear drives greed and the need for power which results in war and destruction. It increases insecurity and leads to even greater fear.
Mainstream media and politics keep fear front and centre to satisfy the public’s appetite (we are hardwired through evolution to take more interest in threats, and negative news), as well as pursuing their own benefit, such as profit and political ambitions. But in doing so, they report a skewed picture of the world, highlighting the negatives but under reporting the positives. There is an argument for avoiding the news altogether, or at least viewing it with an awareness of its imbalanced nature.
Life only exists IN THIS MOMENT
We can only interact directly with life in the moment it unfolds. A preoccupation with thinking and living inside our head’s is a distraction. It’s necessary to some extent of course, to use mental processes to navigate the world, accessing memory, using critical thinking and the likes, but we should live as much as possible, in the moment. All thought is preoccupied with past and future and that’s where our problems and pain also reside.
Following the list below will inevitably improve your quality of life, and those who you share it with. Remember it’s not about what happens to you, but rather how you deal with whatever happens to you.
I like Eckhart Tolle and his teachings, they resonate with me in a profound way. I’m not a devout follower of his, nor anyone else, but having put much of what he teaches into practice, I feel a greater sense of peace in myself. Some people “get” what Eckhart is saying and others don’t. So I thought I would try to do a walk through his teachings in a more summarised format.
This is my interpretation of what Eckhart Tolle is teaching…
Eckhart Tolle’s teaching boils down to….
Living in the moment, without identification with thought
and here’s the working out bit…
We identify with thought when we mistake them (our thoughts) to be part of us, part of who we are.
We’re not referring to thoughts that pass fleetingly in and out of our minds,
but rather rigid/habitual thought patterns.
They are what we refer to as our beliefs,
Strongly held beliefs are wholly responsible for our behaviours and the way we live our lives
What are our beliefs based on?
Usually nothing more than assumptions
Some of what we learn comes from first hand experience, but much more comes from what we see and hear..
from others, from the media, from so called authorities and experts.
We are conditioned/ taught to believe what we are told, we assume we are being told the truth, by people that know best, and who have our best interests at heart.
Many people are aware of this fact and question such assumptions more critically,
but many more blindly follow.
If you have strong beliefs, you close down openness and willingness to learn, to take a different view, to tolerate other ideas and approaches, to empathise
Strongly held beliefs cause us to be judgmental of others and ourselves.
Strongly held beliefs cause division, and force a “them and us” mentality.
Strongly held beliefs are driven by fear, and life, from a base of fear is scary rather than wondrous.
Strongly held beliefs are responsible for all the wars that have ever been, for all pain and suffering in ourselves and others. It is what is likely to end mankind’s time on earth, unless we wake up to the madness of identifying with thought.
How do you do this?
You spend more time “in the now”, in this moment, and less time in your head, thinking.
How do you find the best path to achieving your goal?
There may be many paths you can take to reach your GOAL.
Some paths may cross one another.
Some paths are longer than others.
Some paths may run into a dead end, requiring you to retrace your steps, at least partially, to get back on track.
Some paths lead you to places you never expected, but come to love.
The only paths that fail, are those you abandon.
So to answer the question posed above….
You must TAKE ACTION, deliberately and purposefully, measuring your progress or lack of, as you go.
You should adjust your approach based on your MEASUREMENT feedback.
You should cycle through a process of 1. testing, 2. measuring, and 3. tweaking your execution.
Remain open to alternative methodology; be an humble apprentice, questioning your assumptions and knowledge, always. The moment you decide you know, is the moment you close yourself off from learning anything more.
When it comes to finding the best path to your goal, you would be best to first focus on two coordinates;
#1 – Where you’re starting from and
#2 -Where you want to end up (GOAL)
Without either of these, particularly a well defined GOAL, you have no sense of direction. You cannot know if you are closer or further away, at any point in your journey.
Tony Robbins is a big proponent of MODELLING, when it comes to achieving goals. He teaches his followers to dissect the success of those that have done what you want to do and identify the key ingredients to achieving a positive result.
Once you know what is required to be successful in achieving your goal, you can work out a strategy for making the most of your existing skills and talents, replacing those of the person you are modelling. For instance if someone is amassing a large following on the back of providing great HOW TO.. advice via say, a podcast, but you don’t have the vocal presence or skills needed, you could, maybe, provide the same information via the written word, if you’re a good writer and your skill-set is better suited to that form of delivery. Alternatively you could practice and improve your vocal skills, to the best of your ability, or even put a unique twist on it, to make it more palatable for the audience.
When you’re modeling, separate out the STYLE and STRATEGY that you’re chosen role model is employing. Employ the same strategy they are using, but marry that with your own style to make it authentic and unique to you.
When you have a list of key requirements and/or stages for achieve your goal, use each as a gauge of your progress. Ask “am closer to being able to achieve my goal today, than I was yesterday?”
Once you have fulfilled all the requirements, you should have achieved your goal. If you are still unsuccessful, then look for what ingredient(s) you might have missed. There must be something else missing.
Just a word of warning, when modelling, be aware of the fact that things may have moved on. What worked yesterday may no longer work in the same way today or be relevant to the needs of the market (if your goal is business/marketing related). So make sure that your approach is also up-to-date. For example television advertising was once very profitable for big brands but is no longer so, the audience’s attention is focused online today, via their smartphones. However while this is the case for the likes of business and marketing, which are fast moving and fluid environments, if your goal is fitness or health related, then what worked yesterday is still relevant today.
Getting results in any aspect of life, whether it be work, business, health, relationships, requires knowing what to do and doing what needs to be done. You must have the know how, motivation, and be productive.
The old saying, “NEWS SELLS” isn’t exactly accurate, rather fear and drama sell.
This is important to understand when thinking about the mainstream media (companies such as BBC, ITV, Sky), because they all need to justify their very existence by achieving high viewing stats, without which, they would lose funding such as sponsorships, advertising spend, TV licence and subscriber fees etc.
You could also include the tabloid press, who additionally, are also heavily biased towards their owners political agendas, are biased in their reporting and don’t try to pretend to be impartial or true to the full facts. However when writing this post I was mainly thinking about TV based mainstream media, however newspapers have the same commercial needs and employ many of the same tactics for keeping readers interested.
Keeping attention
So, how do they ensure they get these all important viewing figures? Well, simply presenting the news, the facts, just isn’t going to cut it. Facts are boring, they can be communicated in a matter of minutes. That won’t do, that won’t keep people viewing. The news, containing just the facts is a commodity after all, it is the same wherever it is communicated.
Sure there is some merit in uncovering a buried story and shining a light on it. But that’s hard, requires talented journalism, it takes work, time and detection skills, and such stories are hard to come by, at least sufficiently enough to fill the necessary air time.
On the other hand, drama and fear is easy, a emotive narrative can extend a news piece indefinitely. You have the facts, but you present them in such a way as to keep viewers attention. If you can tell the story more dramatically than anyone else, you’re onto a winner, you’ve differentiated yourself from the competition, the news is no longer a commodity.
How do you keep attention? You take a event, and you create a narrative around it, making it into a dramatic story. For this to work and for it to be dramatic enough you have add fear and uncertainty, that’s what make stories interesting.
Let’s use something current to illustrate the point, the recent general election;
The facts
Conservative party with leader Theresa May won the election,
Conservative party won with a greater share of votes than since Margaret Thatcher won power,
Conservative Party got almost as many seats as all the other parties combined,
But not quite as much as all the other parties combined, which means the Conservatives are a minority government (8 seats short of an overall majority), which could make it difficult getting policies passed in the house of commons,
If they could get agreement from another party (who hold more than 8 seats), this would allow them to have a combined majority, and make it much easier to get policies through the house of commons,
Labour party came second with less votes and less seats than the Conservatives. They could in theory hold office, if the Conservatives decided they could not, and relinquished power, but Labours situation would be even worse than that of the Conservatives , so would be very unlikely.
Conservative Party
Votes – 13,667,213
Seats – 318 (326 needed for overall majority)
Vote Share – 42.4%
Labour Party
Votes – 12,874,985
Seats – 262
Vote Share – 40.0%
The narrative
Now you create a narrative. Okay the Tory party won, but they were hoping for a majority and they didn’t get it, expectations weren’t met, so this can be characterised as a defeat, no, a disaster of epic proportions.
You then get the other parties to give their view of the result, and because they lost, they will naturally want to deflect any attention and criticism away from their shortcomings, and will inevitably play along with the Tory’s election disaster narrative.
How can we develop the narrative to maximise fear, uncertainty and drama? We can speculate about the inevitable P.M.s resignation. Wow this could go on for weeks, and so it goes on.
Let’s just look at a couple of different possible narratives..
Theresa May and the Conservatives were hoping for a greater majority than they originally had, but it didn’t work out. She’s now going to find it more difficult getting policies through parliament and will need to recruit help from other parties. This is going to be much more difficult particularly if the other parties don’t agree with those policies.
This keeps true to the Facts, it doesn’t add emotive language, it doesn’t particular fire up emotion.
Mays plan to steamroller the opposition has failed disastrously. Her intention to force through a hard Brexit and get mandate to run the country have been firmly rejected. She has lost all credibility and can’t possibly survive the growing division within her own party. And with the Labour party ready to step in and form a government should a new election be necessary, it is only a matter of time before she is forced out.
This narrative is designed to evoke emotion and moves away from the facts and adds speculation into the mix (increases uncertainty and fear). If anything, this is rather underplaying the media narrative, but you can see the difference between these two possible narratives.
Protect yourself
Well it’s creative, it’s clever but it’s also manipulative, it’s fear mongering. It upsets, divides and causes pain and suffering in viewers who believe the BS. More scary than that, it also influences the actual events themselves. Political parties often react to what the media is saying, and position themselves to restrict the publicity damage.
Mainstream TV channels such as the BBC aren’t as obviously biased as the tabloid press, although I’m sure they are at times, when it serves them. They will more generally take any position that provides the greatest dramatic effect. They have done it to the Labour party and Corbyn in particular. They don’t discriminate in that way, their main agenda is simply to keep eyeballs on their channel, fear and drama works.
Don’t let the media fool you. To protect against this callous media manipulation….
Understand the underlying facts. Make your own informed judgments based on these only,
Screen out the media noise based on assumptions, speculation and prediction,
Be aware of the emotive language used (designed to maximise viewer fear),
Understand the motivations of all the characters employed, such as the interviewees (opponents, and allies) and of course that of the actual media channel you are watching and their representatives. After all they are the ones with the most to benefit from your fear.
Self-improvement or self-development as it’s often referred to is a major driver of mankind. We all strive to be better, smarter, more successful, fitter, slimmer etc.
Society pushes us to be “more than we are“, and we do our best to follow that recommendation. We read books, take classes, follow role models, try to find mentors, all with the goal of being better tomorrow than we are today.
As a results self-improvement and self-development is big business, the net worth of this industry is estimated to be around $11 billion and growing at over 5% per year.
I’m a firm believer in education, because it allows us to have a greater appreciation of the world around us, and to operate more knowledgeably in the niches we choose to make a living.
Reading books or articles is only the first step, putting what we’ve learned into action is the next, and without doubt the most important part of the success equation. Without taking action, the knowledge acquisition stage is wasted, and with it our greatest resource, time.
This website is here to provide resources for getting results, covering:
All of these are key components in GETTING RESULTS in all aspects of life. So take some time to check through the articles provided on this site. There are lots of self-development focused articles, check them out here, even better than that, sign up for our newsletter for unique content, not available on the site, as email allows us to provide more tailor-made information and solutions.
Also check out the books and links below. I have personally read all of the books listed here, and would recommend them as good sources of information, you can check out the reviews at Amazon for a second, third and forth opinion if you like, but they all provide a good read, or a good listening experience, if you prefer audio books.
Rich Dad Poor Dad, the #1 Personal Finance book of all time, tells the story of Robert Kiyosaki and his two dads–his real father and the father of his best friend, his rich dad–and the ways in which both men shaped his thoughts about money and investing. The book explodes the myth that you need to earn a high income to be rich and explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you.
Get Results: richest man in babylon
The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason.
THE SUCCESS SECRETS OF THE ANCIENTS–AN ASSURED ROAD TO HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY
Countless readers have been helped by the famous -Babylonian parables, – hailed as the greatest of all inspirational works on the subject of thrift, financial planning, and personal wealth. In language as simple as that found in the Bible, these fascinating and informative stories set you on a sure path to prosperity and its accompanying joys. Acclaimed as a modern-day classic, this celebrated bestseller offers an understanding of–and a solution to–your personal financial problems that will guide you through a lifetime.
Get Results: unshakeable
Unshakeable by Tony Robbins.
Market corrections are as constant as seasons are in nature. There have been 30 such corrections in the past 30 years, yet there’s never been an action plan for how not only to survive, but thrive through each change in the stock market.
Building upon the principles in Money: Master the Game, Robbins offers the reader specific steps they can implement to protect their investments while maximizing their wealth. It’s a detailed guide designed for investors, articulated in the common-sense, practical manner that the millions of loyal Robbins fans and students have come to expect and rely upon.
Few have navigated the turbulence of the stock market as adeptly and successfully as Tony Robbins. His proven, consistent success over decades makes him singularly qualified to help investors (both seasoned and first-timers alike) preserve and add to their investments.
Get Results: think and grow rich
The Success Classics Collection: Think and Grow Rich and the Science of Getting Rich (Capstone Classics)
Looking for wealth and success? Discover the money–making secrets of Americas millionaires of the 1930s as compiled by Napoleon Hill and distilled into a thirteen step programme to personal success in the 1937 classic Think and Grow Rich. To further prove that the formula for making money is ageless, The Success Classics Collection also includes the 100–year edition of The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles which explains how to attract wealth, overcome emotional barriers, and apply foolproof methods to bring financial success into your life.
In The ONE Thing, you’ll learn to cut through the clutter, achieve better results in less time
build momentum toward your goal, dial down the stress, overcome that overwhelmed feeling
revive your energy, stay on track, master what matters to you
The ONE Thing is the New York Times bestseller which delivers extraordinary results in every area of your life-work, personal, family, and spiritual.
It is one of the best books I’ve had the pleasure of reading. It focuses you on the important business priorities, and is a real practical business essential.
Get Results: 4 hour work week
The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss
Improve Marketing: Recommended Information Sources
You’re either a Purple Cow or you’re not. You’re either remarkable or invisible. Make your choice.
What do Apple, Starbucks, Dyson and Pret a Manger have in common? How do they achieve spectacular growth, leaving behind former tried-and-true brands to gasp their last? The old checklist of P’s used by marketers – Pricing, Promotion, Publicity – aren’t working anymore. The golden age of advertising is over. It’s time to add a new P – the Purple Cow.
Purple Cow is a great thought provoker. Seth is a firm believer that future business success depends on businesses moving from ordinary and becoming extraordinary. Buy the book or audio versions below.
Get Results: made to stick
Made to Stick by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
Improve Spirituality: Recommended Information Sources
Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth will be a cornerstone for personal spirituality and self-improvement for years to come, leading readers to a new levels of consciousness and inner peace. Taking off from the introspective work The Power of Now, which is a number one bestseller and has sold millions of copies worldwide, Tolle provides the spiritual framework for people to move beyond themselves in order to make this world a better, more spiritually evolved place to live. Shattering modern ideas of ego and entitlement, self and society, Tolle lifts the veil of fear that has hung over humanity during this new millennium, and shines an illuminating light that leads to happiness and health that every reader can follow.
Get Results: the power of now
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Eckhart Tolle’s book describes the experience of heightened consciousness that radically transformed his life – and shows how by living in the moment we can also reach a higher state of being where we can find joy and peace and where problems do not exist.
How do you feel about the possibility of being wrong?
It is considered to be a very bad thing by most people, resulting in feelings of dread, embarrassment, emptiness, sadness and a sense of loss for time and effort, which may have been wasted. We really don’t want to be proven wrong, do we?
We’re right until we know we’re wrong
The trouble is we feel we are right (even though we might actually be wrong) until the point we REALISE we’re wrong. A good analogy for this is the Looney tunes cartoon where the coyote chases the road runner off the end of a cliff, and is okay, even though he’s running in mid air, until he realises there’s nothing under his feet, only then does he fall.
We misunderstand the signs around us more than we care to admit, yet we do what we can to avoid thinking about the possibility of being wrong.
We grow to believe we see the world as it really is, we are certain it is so, but this is dangerous. When we ATTACH to the idea of needing to be right, this prevents us accepting any possibility of being wrong.
Dealing with disagreement
In the face of disagreement, we are convinced that those who disagree are ignorant of the full facts, and when they are furnished with them, they will agree with our view.
If others have the same facts as us, but still disagree, then we resort to thinking them to be morons and idiots, who lack the necessary education to grasp the true reality.
When we know others to be smart and they still disagree with us, we think they may be withholding something from us, for their own gain.
All these are psychological coping strategies, to keep us from admitting we might actually be the ones who are wrong.
Culture teaches us to be right
Culture has conditioned us into thinking that people who failed when we were growing up in school, were the class dim-wits and drop outs, we have learned that lesson so well that we carry the fear of being wrong with us into our adult lives and subsequently spend all our time avoiding the possibility. We believe getting something wrong means there’s something wrong with us.
We’re missing something
We overlook the role INTERPRETATION plays in shaping our perceptions, which explains why different people might take different meanings from the same event.
This however is what feeds creativity and makes mankind so interesting and diverse. If we all saw the world in the same way, we would lose much of what makes us, us.
Be prepared to stand outside the need to be right all the time, accept we are probably wrong a lot of the time and that’s okay. For instance, we might have thought in our school days that we would marry our childhood sweetheart or be flying around with jet packs strapped to our backs as adults, but life just doesn’t turn out the way we thought it would.
Check out this Ted Talk lecture by Kathryn Schulz, it’s the inspiration for this article and well worth a watch.
