Dare to Think for Yourself

We live in a 24-hour-on-line-all-the-time society.  The sheer amount of digital noise that we all endure each day is mind-boggling!

Technology clutters our minds with trivial information, silly and useless anecdotes and seduces us into believing that we are gaining wisdom.

We often now mistake urgent for important, erroneously considering that the most recent information is the most accurate.

“No greater mistake can be made than to imagine that what has been written latest is always the more correct, that what is written later on is an improvement on what was written previously, and that every change means progress.” – Schopenhauer circa 1830

I guarantee Schopenhauer had no idea the amount of cyber clutter and information we have at our fingertips where the sound of the new can easily diminish and drown out the solid and true.

We live in the age of the algorithm showing us what we should be concerned about. Artificial intelligence bombarding us with messaging to sway our opinions, perceptions, needs and wants. 

Our own thoughts are heavily mediated by what our “friends” and others (strangers no less) are saying online. 

We hear on-line “gurus” and self-proclaimed experts spout their thoughts and we take them as philosophical or expert advice and enlightenment.

And the biggest misconception that this digital landscape provides us is a false sense of what is good.  We see what is popular, what is trending, and label it “good” and needed.  Think of the millions of people who go to a restaurant or a store and truly believe it is “good” because they looked up its Star Rating. 

Although not bad information, as I believe most people that submit ratings are doing so with the intention of helping others, it could be that their opinions then taint our own experience just enough to make if difficult to form a unique opinion ourselves.

The pop-culture phenomenon we live in is just that POP.  Like a bottle rocket, or those old pop-rock candy that would explode in your mouth.  It is here for an instant, gone the next.  What is considered good, needed, important, urgent even, will be forgotten with the next headline or the next viral post.

I don’t mean to jump on a soapbox, but sometimes I wonder, “has social media depleted us from critical thinking?”

“Do we consult others before we consult ourselves, striving to always be ‘part of the bandwagon’ and not pausing long enough to ask ourselves why?”

I am by no means saying the internet, social media, and information at your fingers tips is BAD.  Just that we need to still process the information, measure it against what we know to be true, what we ourselves have experiences, and ASK QUESTIONS.

Voltaire said, “the best way to judge a man is by the questions he asks.”

Not just the questions we pose to others, but the questions we ask ourselves.  The things we ponder in our internal internet (our brain).  The questioning of our own answers to keep searching and digging for more understanding, more knowledge, more wisdom.

Questioning our perspective, our motives, our why, our journey.

Reevaluating what we have seen and heard, where we have been, what we have done.

It’s funny, if you watch others, especially the younger generations, it seems as if they can’t endure even thirty seconds without the external stimuli of their phone.

It is like we hand over our body and our mind to strangers every day.  We allow others, their opinions, their paradigms, their perceptions, their ideas, and thoughts permeate into our heads and our hearts. 

We are destined to see the world through the algorithm-lens as we scroll past our own sense of reality. 

You might be asking – what does this have to do with my business?

A lot!  Are you participating in the social noise – either by contributing or allowing the ideas of others displace your own about how you are running your business or should.

I can’t tell you how many times a week I listen to business owners and professionals compare themselves to people or businesses they have seen online.  Or how many times they say “I should be doing this or that”. 

I ask them why?  They invariably say, “I saw it online and it seems to be working for them!” 

That doesn’t mean (1) that it will work for you, and (2) that it really IS working for them.  They may SAY it is – but is it?  How do you know?  If it is, then WHY is it working for them?  HOW are they using that particular strategy or tactic?  WHO are they targeting?  Is it the same as who you are?

See…questions. 

Yes, you can tirelessly research to stop self-pondering over and simply find “solutions” to every issue you are having in your business.  But will it be the right one for you?

“…it is a hundred times more valuable if you have arrived at it (the solution) by thinking for yourself.” – Schopenhauer

Now, that does not mean that you don’t seek wise council or listen to other people.  Schopenhauer did, and very regularly gave his opinions and thoughts to thousands, asked for or not!

• Yes, it is important to gather information from several sources.
• Yes, it does help to know other opinions if they have experience in whatever it is that you are faced with.
• Yes, it is wonderful to have access to so much information and knowledge (however overwhelming it can be).

But NO, having that information is not the same as forming your own thoughts and opinions around it.

No, reading and observing from others experiences is not the same as experiencing it for yourself (I can have a virtual tour of a National Park but that is not the same as descending the Grand Canyon or marveling at the wonders that nature brings us).

So – take it all in.  Sift through it in your own mind. Debate within yourself the good, the bad and the ugly.  TALK to others, have a conversation, bounce YOUR ideas and thoughts off of them and really hear their thoughts.

Add them to your overall equation and decide for yourself what is best for you and your business. 

“Dare to think for yourself.” – Kant

We mentor many business owners.  We share with them our ideas, our experiences, our thoughts. 

Network Build Grow comes together as a community to rally around business owners and professionals and provide ideas, opinions, challenges, clarification, encouragement, support and more.  All directed to help you gather information, ideas, and contemplate the best direction to move.

“The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.” – Aristotle

Others, online and off, can provide input – but the end of the day – it is your business, your life, and your decision.  We are all just here to help.