by Wendy Harmon on March 7th 2012 (10:26AM EST)
"The difference between a fool and a wise man is that a fool goes and does something blindly. A wise man knows it's a bad idea, but does it because he has to. A brilliant man finds a way to make it into a good idea."
In the statement above I give you the option of three choices. The fool, the wise, and the brilliant. Most of us know why the fool is a fool, he (or she) jumps in without thinking and blindly charges in. Perhaps they are fueled by their emotions (which can be a good and powerful thing) or perhaps they were fueled by pride or ego (isn't that part of your emotions? I suppose technically, but lets keep it separate for now). We've all seen the fool; perhaps even in ourselves, as they are in that "go get'em" attitude but for several of the wrong reasons. If the entire time you're trying to achieve your goal and you're constantly saying to yourself; "Call ME an idiot will you! You said I didn't do my best, I'll show you!", at first this seems like proper motivation, but is it really? True, proving self-worth is very important especially to yourself because if you don't put value in yourself who will do so likewise. Ah ha! The first mistake of the fool! He is not proving his self-worth or value to himself, but his perceived value toward the individual who damaged his pride and bruised his ego. If you're entirely fueled by the sole desire to prove one individual wrong who said something that hurt you, you're either going to run out of steam quickly, or be fighting an uphill battle for a LONG time.
So, the wise man KNOWS it's a bad idea, but does it because he has to. Well, isn't he going to do the same thing? If he's truly a wise man than, no. Let's put our wise man in the same situation as our fool. He was called an idiot and was told that he did not do his best. Obviously someone who is influential in his life has some persuasion over him (be it a boss or manager or father figure). Yet again it may flare the temper of our wise man, but hopefully only enough to get him to think, "Why would I be told such a thing?" Our wise man might be fueled by his emotions as well in order to perform or achieve better, but since he is a wise man he will do something the fool did not. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY!!! He is responsible for how he performed, how he acted, and how he handled the situation. No one else, the entire responsibility is on him! Now, with this step included with our wise man unlike or fool, even if he goes about with a somewhat similar mind set of "I'll prove you wrong." He has a much higher chance of success because he will be evaluating himself, not the world and circumstances around him.
Finally, we come to our third individual, the brilliant man. He in a sense is the twin brother to the wise man but has taken his awareness one step beyond. Not only has he admitted responsibility and has taken it, he has also challenged himself to increase his value. He stays positive, focused, and takes a bad idea and turns it into a good idea! He knows that life is a balance, a yin-and-yang, a darkness to the light, so when he is presented with the darkness, he goes in search of the light. It's there; it always has been, sometimes it takes some spelunking to find it. Thomas Edison once stated, "I did not fail 5,000 times in making the light bulb, I FOUND 5,000 ways NOT to make a light bulb!" He took responsibility, admitted that it was all on him but in reverse took a negative and turned it into a positive.
My challenge to you for today, and tomorrow, and next week, and . . . well you get the idea . . . Is to start taking responsibility and instead of viewing or stating things negatively, look for the light side and start thinking positively. I can assure you you'll be a happier person in the long run and will succeed more often!
No comments:
Post a Comment