Being 100% right is key to success
Being right half the time beats being half-right all the time.
- Malcolm Forbes
---
So why are people half-right all the time? It's because they rarely push their thinking to the ultimate, inevitable conclusion.
In their defense, it is not easy to sustain a chain of reasoning for a long time. After all, we don't live in Greece and most of us have not had the priviledge of knowing someone like Plato or Socrates, who could go on and on with philosophy and rhetoric.
I think the key is to choose a few topics about which you MUST ABSOLUTELY BE RIGHT. Those are the issues about which you CANNOT AFFORD TO BE WRONG. (I will stop with the CAPITALS because it looks so dramatic and might stress out a few readers).
However, since time is limited, we have to choose to spend it either on:
Why?
Simply because we do not see what we think. Our mind is like a black box. It's completely dark in there.
This is why having a coach helps. The coach will point a sort of flashlight into your (dark) mind, and show you what you are actually thinking. He will then ask you if that kind of thinking is, according to you, correct or not. If not, then you can correct it yourself or with his help.
Why would a person need a "thinking coach"? Because the quality of one's thinking determines the quality of one's life, whether it be materially, financially, socially, politically, etc.
If you're in business, and your business thinking is wrong, you will fail.
If you're learning a new art, and your thinking about it is wrong and not based on classic principles, you will fail as an artist.
This is why hanging around with a role model is so helpful. After a while, you pick up the same thinking habits. It's easier that way.
Another good way to make sure you SEE your thinking, is to write it down. You can write a blog, or simply keep a daily journal.
- Malcolm Forbes
---
So why are people half-right all the time? It's because they rarely push their thinking to the ultimate, inevitable conclusion.
In their defense, it is not easy to sustain a chain of reasoning for a long time. After all, we don't live in Greece and most of us have not had the priviledge of knowing someone like Plato or Socrates, who could go on and on with philosophy and rhetoric.
I think the key is to choose a few topics about which you MUST ABSOLUTELY BE RIGHT. Those are the issues about which you CANNOT AFFORD TO BE WRONG. (I will stop with the CAPITALS because it looks so dramatic and might stress out a few readers).
However, since time is limited, we have to choose to spend it either on:
- getting more information (from magazines, books, other people, TV news, etc.)
- OR examining our own thinking and reasoning on the few issues that really matter in our lives
Why?
Simply because we do not see what we think. Our mind is like a black box. It's completely dark in there.
This is why having a coach helps. The coach will point a sort of flashlight into your (dark) mind, and show you what you are actually thinking. He will then ask you if that kind of thinking is, according to you, correct or not. If not, then you can correct it yourself or with his help.
Why would a person need a "thinking coach"? Because the quality of one's thinking determines the quality of one's life, whether it be materially, financially, socially, politically, etc.
If you're in business, and your business thinking is wrong, you will fail.
If you're learning a new art, and your thinking about it is wrong and not based on classic principles, you will fail as an artist.
This is why hanging around with a role model is so helpful. After a while, you pick up the same thinking habits. It's easier that way.
Another good way to make sure you SEE your thinking, is to write it down. You can write a blog, or simply keep a daily journal.
posted by Super Peter at 12:26 PM
<< Home