You're Delusional!

(This post is a continuation of a previous post)

I define delusion as the inability to clearly assess reality. The problem with faulty assessment is that you are unable to set accurate expectations for your life. This may not sound like a big deal but a major part of our satisfaction in life is meeting or exceeding the expectations we create for ourselves. Conversely, the pain and suffering that we face is a result of falling short of those expectations. This plays out constantly in our daily lives because it is how our brain works.

Consider the following example. Let’s say I can quantify levels of satisfaction from 1 to 10. You may say that a 5 is a 5 no matter what, but you will feel very differently about a 5 depending on if you were expecting a 9, or if you were expecting a 1. It’s the absolute distance in between that actually predicates our satisfaction, not the number 5 itself. You can apply this concept to things like cookies and sandwiches, and beyond.

The point is, by relating strongly to reality, you can avoid the pain of delusion and slowly work your way towards an improved frame of reality. The more precise you are in your expectations, the less volatility you will experience. Stability is necessary if you want to work your way towards the life you want to achieve. You will not be able to experience this stable growth if you are fundamentally grounded in delusional principles.

If you don’t understand something fully, it is going to be incredibly challenging to find ways to improve it. If someone else is able to achieve something better than you with the same level of requisite resources, you should be curious about their mental faculties. If someone can do what you cannot, they probably know something that you do not. We can only fill our heads with so much understanding, and if the aggregate mean of your understanding is impotent in relevancy compared to someone else, you are going to be at a severe competitive disadvantage.

If something you believe does not aid in improving your reality you should strongly consider discarding that belief. It’s okay to acknowledge previous poor judgement and change your mind. Unless you’re objectively thriving, why would you remain faithful to an under-serving ideology just for the sake of loyalty? You should be curious about other methodologies, but also incredibly adaptive to save time. It should enrage you that there are people out there who have done more with what they’ve been given than what you’ve done with yours. You should be motivated by people who are “doing them better than you’re doing you.”

We are all tasked with improving our collective reality, and the only way to be truly valued (especially as a man) is by being efficacious at doing so. If you want to improve your life, you must first put yourself on the correct track. I find it very hard to believe that anyone is capable of deluding themselves to success. Actual competency is a product of strong reason that is appropriately applied.

“Unless you continually work, evolve, and innovate, you will learn a swift and painful lesson from someone who has” -Cael Sanderson