Average

"When you're average, you are as close to the bottom as you are to the top." -John Wooden

Average, Middle-class, Normal... call it what you want but what it really means is being controlled by a system and not being good nor bad at it

"When I thought I was learning to live, I was learning to die." -Leonardo Da Vinci

What is the system?
The system is a set of beliefs they influence you to follow - so much so that you loose your individuality to become a carbon copy of what is considered appropriate for the system in place.

Can I beat the system?
No, you can't beat the system but you don't really want that anyway. What you really want to do is either master it or create your own.

Ok... so how do I do that?

"The brain simply believes what you tell it the most." -Shad Helmstetter

The person you listen to the most is in control of your thoughts. If you want to master, or create a system, what you'll first need is creativity. Creativity comes from within - how can you think creatively, or have original ideas, if you're a carbon copy of somebody else? Your ideas are not your own until you stop people from dictating your thoughts and start listening to yourself.

Finding yourself, your individuality, your own ideas, will help you figure out ways to succeed within a system or create a successful system of your own. Given that, of course, you have the courage to follow through on your ideas but that's another topic for another day.

Socrates and The Oracle

"The Death of Socrates", by Jacques-Louis David (1787)

Socrates' friend, Chaerephon, asked the oracle, in Delphi, if there was someone wiser than Socrates to which the Oracle replied “no one”. Socrates, who had heard of the tale thought it was ridiculous since he felt like he wasn't the wisest man. This began his journey to find a wiser man than he was.

He found a politician on his journey who was known to be wise. Socrates spoke to the man and pointed out what the man didn't know which angered the man. He then famously said:

“I am wiser than this man: neither of us knows anything that is really worth knowing, but he thinks that he has knowledge when he has not, while I, having no knowledge, do not think that I have. I seem, at any rate, to be a littler wiser than he is on this point: I do not think that I know what I do not know.”

He had a similar experience with every wise person he met. This quest eventually brought his death after he angered too many wise people in power; who then gave him the death penalty. Socrates died in 348 B.C. by willingly drinking poison following is death penalty.

There are no known written document, by Socrates, that survived. Everything we know about this Philosopher was brought down to us by his students, mainly Plato, who followed him and documented his journey.

What we can learn from this story is that when we think we “know”, we sometime become arrogant and take offence when exposed to new ideas. It is important that we remain humble and curious so we can be opened to those new ideas and grow as human beings.

*This post can also be found on my Personal Blog (Student of LIFE).

Task Vs How To Do The Job

Although many managers don’t care to know the difference, there’s a thin line between giving someone a task and telling them how to do it.

When you tell someone how to do something, you’re also telling them “I don’t think you can do this on your own”. The lack of trust will hurt the manager/employee relationship and where trust is in small amount-so is the willingness to work.

If you want your employees to give it their all at work, give them a task and let them figure out how to do it. It’ll be easier on you, since you won’t feel like you have to chaperone and it’ll allow them to think for themselves. Many heads thinking on a problem is better than 1 doing all the thinking.

"And Justice For All" book by Orrin Woodward

Orrin Woodward released many books over the years and is considered one of the biggest leaders of the 21st century. His latest work, "And Justice For All", is coming out this month and it looks amazing! See the trailer below:

Leaders must be Likeable

A leader must be likeable because no follower ever said "I hate him but I will follow him to the end." James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner (Authors of "A Leader's Legacy" book) said "The leaders people want to follow are the ones for who they have genuine affection."

Nobody is above The Golden Rule ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto you") especially not leaders. If you want people to want to follow you treat your following like you would like to be treated (or better).