Many of us are familiar with the fact that the social media platforms all use artificial intelligence algorithms that get “smarter” with more exposure to your habits and preferences. In other words, when you spend a bunch of time on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/TikTok looking at the same general topic like the election, vaccine mandates, puppies, whatever, the algorithm of that platform will show you more of these same things to keep you engaged. A brilliant piece of technology indeed, with a TON of downsides to it from, the user perspective.
If you have watched a TikTok video where someone sits down on the couch in the morning to watch one video and then 10 hours later looks up and its dark outside and they spent the whole day on the couch, you know what I mean. They are kind of joking about this, but as the old saying goes, behind every lie there is some amount of truth. While it might be exaggerated, people do get sucked into this vortex, and remember, this is by design. The algorithm kept you locked in, showing you more and more of what you want to see and things that reinforce how you view the world. If you are left or right-leaning in your political views, you will see more of the same, and you will feel like you have a community of people who agree with you. Certainly the things you see and hear must be true if so many others also agree.
Groupthink at its finest. Your life works in this same manner
If you are a negative person, always finding the bad in a situation, you will get more of that. If you are positive person who sees the opportunity even when things are not going well, you will get more positivity in your life. It is as simple as that. What you think and see, you get more of. If you think you are oppressed, you likely find ways to corroborate those thoughts. If you think you live a free life, one of opportunity, you will be walking a completely different path. We all grow up as individuals regardless of your connections to family. Look at any family and try to find an example of all of the children being exactly alike. Not possible, as we are all individuals that stand on our own (eventually). Yet so many of us lock ourselves into a thought pattern that dictates much of what we do and where we go in life.
You have to understand how this next concept works to succeed in life. I firmly believe that. If you have every heard about “The Secret” book and/or movie that was all the rage a while ago, you have had some exposure to this. It is referred to as the Law of Attraction, and it seems to be a common thought throughout the world. This is not a Western concept by any stretch. Athletes, Public Speakers, World Leaders and many others all use the process of positive visualization to help bring things they wish to achieve to fruition. Picturing what you want in vivid detail seems to open the door for the Universe to bring things that you want your way. I can tell you from personal experience that this works without a doubt if you “ask” for the right things. I have tried asking to stumble upon a lockbox of hundred dollar bills, but to no avail. But I have “received” other things like an opportunity through business, a new challenge to overcome and learn from, etc. These are the kind of things you need to focus your thoughts and energy on, or to stick with the theme of this blog, to focus your personal algorithm on.
Whatever you focus your time and attention on you are likely to get more of. It’s that simple. If you sit around your dingy apartment pissed off that the world owes you something that you haven’t gotten yet, you are going to get more and more of the same. Your mindset and your outlook on life will keep you there. But, if you look at where you are and want to make a change, you will move mountains to do so. Do you know how many people out there have overcome far worse than you are dealing with? Plenty of single moms with two kids to take care of have worked two jobs while going to school on line to change their circumstances. Dozens of people have been born in a small town with nothing to their name and went on to owe billion dollar companies. For some, sports or academics are the way out. So if others can do it, why can’t you?
The world is not all sunshine and rainbows, most of us are well aware of that. Life will kick you in teeth sometimes, that is a given. It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, black or white, male, female or otherwise. If you allow life to keep you down, it will. If you can learn to take a hit and keep coming, you have a shot at some kind of success. You will have to decide what your definition of success is, as that is a wide range. I will tell you this, speaking from my own experience, that this definition will change over time. Many of us want to be rich and famous when we grow up, but that is too vague a target to aim at. Some want to be professional athletes, musicians, business owners, but lack the clarity to see what that really means. EVERYTHING that is going to be defined as “success” is going to take hard work. Are you ready for the work to get there as well as the work to stay there? Are you willing to bear the burden of fame and fortune?
Maybe what you actually want is to be financially comfortable, have options on where to live, where to send your kids to college, where to vacation next. You may wish to have time to yourself, more than others get to have. You might want to live off grid and disappear from society altogether, or may wish to be a stay at home parent that spends tons of time with your kids. Nothing in this paragraph meets the typical definition of rich, does it? But maybe you need to define that for yourself and quit letting others dictate what success means to you. Personally, I would not want to drive a Ferrari for longer than one long weekend. It does not fit my lifestyle; it would get stuck on the first dirt road I took it on to go fishing. Yes, we would have gotten there faster on the highway, but as soon as we leave the asphalt that car is useless to me. It is pure flash, an expression of personal wealth, and I am not about that. And eventually you may not be about that either.
Switching gears to another facet of this, you have probably also heard that you are the average of the ten people you spend the most time with. By average, it is thought to mean that you have four or five friends that you doing better in life in some way, in many case financially. You also have several friends that are “below you” on that same economic scale. This is a major reason you need to be particular about who you surround yourself with. If most of your friends are drug dealers, your future is likely in jeopardy. If most of your friends are millionaires, you will likely start to see the world the way they do, and elevate to that level. There are no guarantees on either side, but the odds bend in those directions depending on where you stand. We are all a product of our environment, so whenever you have a choice of who you associate with, be sure to exercise it.
We all have a lot more control over our lives that we realize, but much of that comes down to your view of the world. As I stated above, if you think you’re being held back, discriminated against, etc., you probably are. If you look at these things like they are your cross to bear, and that you can handle and overcome them, then nothing can hold you back. EVENTUALLY you will conquer these things and break from of the quicksand that a bad mindset can be. I can tell you from experience to some degree, and certainly from reading the biographies of a several wealthy businesspeople, that coming from a difficult background can actually be an advantage for some. ALL OF THEM will tell you that coming from a humble background taught them to understand hard work, money and the value of things that many wealthy people take for granted BECAUSE they did not have them when growing up. This different perspective is what helped them understand that the opportunities are there for those who pursue them.
“A man should not be measured by what
he accomplishes, but rather what he overcomes”.
We all come from different background, circumstances, families, etc., so it is not fair of you to compare yourself to others. We are not running the same race and we certainly are not starting from the same place. That is the reality of life; is it not, however, a life sentence. You do not need to look around you and think that you are destined to repeat the things others in your family or neighborhood have already experienced. You can escape if you try hard enough. I truly believe there is always a way, and you need to feel the same. It has to start with one thing: HOPE. After that, grab your hard hat and your lunchbox and clock in. Go to work, grind, make shit happen. Your life is in your own hands, and no one is coming to rescue you.
I wish you luck in your endeavors.
by Darrin Schenck
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by Darrin Schenck
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