Re-reading parts of the book, it occurs to me that the wall of fear that stops so many people is pure illusion. MJ writes a lot about how we must be unconventional, be willing to buck the norms and be different from everyone else. It's so true.
Everywhere we look, almost everyone else has labels for things. Authority is given to those with titles, degrees, pedigrees, whatever. Of course, it's all bullshit. These are the B.S. ways in which those with the loser's mindset view success. They view it as labels. It's a great excuse to tell yourself why you do or do not deserve anything. As if the world gives a crap.
I trade in the futures markets (not a leverageable business, however), but one thing that I finally figured out is that the market simply doesn't give a crap who you are and where you came from. Pundits and traders alike argue endlessly about the market being right or wrong, whether something "deserved" to go up or down. They're all morons. The market isn't right or wrong. It simply is.
Same with the world. It's not right. It's not wrong. It just is. It's a complicated, wonderful, chaotic place with 7 BILLION people. Trying to simplify it is ridiculous. And it is a place which increasingly defies labels.
I've seen many cases in my life (especially with myself) in which the fear of defying labels is ultimately the fear of being alone, because I think the biggest fear we have is that of not being enough and therefore not being loved. And we all attach "enough" to some definition. Whether we associate that definition of "enough" to some sort of socially accepted label, however, is up to us. We can't do anything about those who do. That's their problem, and I've found that changing myself is way hard enough; I'm delusional enough to think I'm gonna change anyone else. You just have to let go of those who will hate on you because you don't fit some label.
Those labels are our walls. Think about it: if you felt no pressure to adhere to anyone's labels of what is good or acceptable, would you give a crap about failing? Would it even be failing? As I write this, I'm watching the French Open Final from 2006. Do you think Federer or Nadal would have made it to the final if either of them had dwelled on every missed shot, lost point, lost game, lost set? No way?
A guy named Richard Machowicz, an ex-Navy SEAL once wrote that there were only two ways he could fail: if he quit or he was dead. Not dead. Can't quit. Anyone here dead? Then who cares if you don't succeed? It's not failure. It's life. Take away the associations of failure and it becomes something else.
Something I'm working on, but I'm getting there. I'd love to hear some thoughts.
- Pete
Everywhere we look, almost everyone else has labels for things. Authority is given to those with titles, degrees, pedigrees, whatever. Of course, it's all bullshit. These are the B.S. ways in which those with the loser's mindset view success. They view it as labels. It's a great excuse to tell yourself why you do or do not deserve anything. As if the world gives a crap.
I trade in the futures markets (not a leverageable business, however), but one thing that I finally figured out is that the market simply doesn't give a crap who you are and where you came from. Pundits and traders alike argue endlessly about the market being right or wrong, whether something "deserved" to go up or down. They're all morons. The market isn't right or wrong. It simply is.
Same with the world. It's not right. It's not wrong. It just is. It's a complicated, wonderful, chaotic place with 7 BILLION people. Trying to simplify it is ridiculous. And it is a place which increasingly defies labels.
I've seen many cases in my life (especially with myself) in which the fear of defying labels is ultimately the fear of being alone, because I think the biggest fear we have is that of not being enough and therefore not being loved. And we all attach "enough" to some definition. Whether we associate that definition of "enough" to some sort of socially accepted label, however, is up to us. We can't do anything about those who do. That's their problem, and I've found that changing myself is way hard enough; I'm delusional enough to think I'm gonna change anyone else. You just have to let go of those who will hate on you because you don't fit some label.
Those labels are our walls. Think about it: if you felt no pressure to adhere to anyone's labels of what is good or acceptable, would you give a crap about failing? Would it even be failing? As I write this, I'm watching the French Open Final from 2006. Do you think Federer or Nadal would have made it to the final if either of them had dwelled on every missed shot, lost point, lost game, lost set? No way?
A guy named Richard Machowicz, an ex-Navy SEAL once wrote that there were only two ways he could fail: if he quit or he was dead. Not dead. Can't quit. Anyone here dead? Then who cares if you don't succeed? It's not failure. It's life. Take away the associations of failure and it becomes something else.
Something I'm working on, but I'm getting there. I'd love to hear some thoughts.
- Pete
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