To be vulnerable is to be courageous and to be courageous is to be vulnerable. Doing something difficult when there is an easier choice inherently makes it a courageous act. Whether it is opening up about your life, telling somebody a hard truth, or defending someone else where you might get physically or emotionally hurt, there are different types of vulnerabilities, but they all require courage. How can you practice being courageous today?
Tag: philosophy
On receiving advice
“Advice is one thing that is freely given away, but make sure that you only take in that which is worth having.” Excerpt from The Richest Man in Babylon
Everyone has an opinion on something and most people want to share their opinions, no matter how much or how little knowledge they have on the subject. It is important to keep an open mind, to be respectful, and to listen to other’s ideas, opinions, and advice.
But before you accept their advice and start putting it into action, try to understand if the source from which you’re receiving the advice is credible to listen to. Do they have first-hand experience in what they’re recommending to you? Are they intimate with someone who does? How far removed are they from the successes or failures of those opinions?
Be sure to always think for yourself. Use your critical thinking skills and try to play out best-case and worst-case scenarios on your head. Try to analyze the risks versus the rewards, and the likelihood of either of those extremes (as well as the middle-ground). Play devil’s advocate and try to punch holes in their advice. Does it still hold up?
In the end, understand that you can spend all day analyzing and not take any action. We all know someone who can see the faults of every decision, but is too afraid to make a decision of their own. Don’t be one of those people. Take actions (especially when it comes with asymmetric risk), learn from your mistakes, and keep moving forward.
Building Resilience
Work on being resilient in all situations. No matter what happens, no matter the outcome, you can and will overcome it. When you fall down, you can choose to stay down and wallow in sorrow, or you can choose to get back up. Be a riser. Others can’t keep you down, only you get to make that choice.
Don’t overdramatize things. Something didn’t go your way…What is complaining going to do? Nothing. Learn from your mistakes. And if you feel you did everything “right” but it still didn’t work out, that doesn’t mean you need to make a bad decision next time because the good decision didn’t pay off this time/last time.
To experience success, you must experience failure
Success is something we all crave. Failure is something we try to avoid like the plague. But to experience the most success possible, you must also endure many failures along the way.
Success is not about never failing. It’s not about never having a hard time. It’s not about making everything look easy/effortless.
Everyone who has done anything great or meaningful in their lives has had to overcome hardships. But here’s the thing, the people who toil in misery? They have faced those hardships as well, but instead of rising after they have fallen, they stay down. Don’t stay down…get up after you fail. Dust yourself off. Adapt and overcome. Eventually, you will turn your failures into success as well.
Dealing with rejection
Treat everyone nicely, even when they reject you. You never know when your gracious response may help you in the future.
If you act poorly or inappropriately, people will remember that. It may feel good to “tell them off” in the moment, but it builds ill will towards your future self.
On the other end of the spectrum, if you act kindly and with grace, they may think to help you in the future. They might be rejecting your idea right now because they don’t agree with it, but that doesn’t mean they don’t like you. Don’t take rejection personally. Instead, thank them for their time and try to get feedback from them as to why they said no. Now, you can use that feedback to improve your idea (or the communication of your idea) in the present, or gain a better understanding on how to present to that person in the future (what do they value?).