When Did We All Stop Considering Ourselves Philosophers?

The Lost Art That Changed The World

People hear the word philosopher and this is what jumps to mind. Icons of the past that changed the world thousands of years ago.

Brilliant thinkers that changed how everything was understood. Ideas that changed the course of history.

This isn’t you. So you aren’t a philosopher.

That statement is wrong. Completely wrong.

Philosophy isn’t about a few brilliant thinkers.

Philosophy is something that we can all do. Most of us DO do it when we aren’t drowning in the busyness we have built our lives around.

Philosophy is our ability to wonder. About life and everything in it

The goal isn’t to come up with answers.

The real intent is this:

It’s about the process of trying to find answers versus accepting without questioning.

The most important ideas in your life will come from your own individual reasoning. They will not come from what has been forced upon you by society.

The beginning of thought is in disagreement — not only with others, but with ourselves

Eric Hoffer

The world today has us believing that for an idea to be good, enough people have to agree with it.

A world of social media tricking generations to believe that social proof is the litmus test for the quality of ideas.

Every disruptive idea started out as something that either hadn’t been done or that people believed couldn’t be done.

Take time to ask more questions.

Challenge what you are being told.

Test for yourself and ask yourself if this is an idea that you agree with. If it’s what you believe for yourself or if you are accepting it because it’s what you have been told is ‘normal’ or ‘right’.

Thousands of years ago, they didn’t have all of the tools, technology or understanding that we have today. This forced people to think more, to look inside themselves and the world around them for answers. There was a willingness to experiment and explore — there weren’t any alternatives.

It’s a gift we seem to have forgotten. But it’s still there.

Ask. Test. Decide for yourself.

Comments

This 1 Thing Increases Your Career Capital More Than Anything Else

The Art of Better Decision Making Have you felt scared to make a decision? Maybe you get preoccupied with making the 'wrong' decision? Did you know that 68% of people have admitted to not doing because they thought it would be harder than it actually is. Getting comfortable with making decisions is one of the biggest challenges new leaders face. You will be placed in situations where there isn't enough time to get all of the information. Or even harder, you will be placed in situations where you'll never get more information than what you have. The good news? Making better decisions is something that you can improve by being deliberate with your learning and how you choose to approach it. This is the approach I take to decision making. These have been test and is what I have used over my 15 year career to teach and develop teams. - Accept that you will make mistakes. There is rarely a perfect answer. Getting comfortable with ambiguity is a leadership muscle you need to...

Your Next Five Moves

There are two streams of thought when you start reading a book and you don't feel like you are connecting with it. Some people will say to stop reading it and move onto something else, the theory is that there are so many things in the world that you will enjoy reading, that you shouldn't be wasting your time on things that you don't. Camp B will tell you to stick with it, get through it and see what happens. If I had to "pick a side" I probably fall more into team B than team A, even though I do feel that there will always be some books / material that you should just put down. What has me more B than A? Some of the books that have had the most impact on me were a STRUGGLE to get through. I challenge that this may because they are pushing your boundaries and putting something up against your current worldview / paradigms. True growth and learning comes from when you can challenge and dismantle your own ideas, and rebuilt them anew. My first real experience with ...

Decisions, Positions and Frames

Making decisions and getting consensus is the most common activity that every person goes through. Whether in your personal or professional life, we are all selling, all the time. Selling? I'm not selling anything! Actually, that's not really true. At the most fundamental level, selling is about the transfer of belief. You are trying to get a person or a group to see things the way you do. If they accept that, you make the "sale" (i.e. you have transferred your idea/belief) as another has chosen to accept it. Where things get hard is when people hold onto certain ideas, frames or positions around a circumstance. It's interesting how little people realize what they share related to their position without even knowing it. The information is there, as long as you are listening. Always be listening. When someone repeats a variable or constraint that is a difference, that has major impact. They themselves they may not realize that they are essentially confirming what...

Search This Blog