Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Fear

Do you know what is fear? Have you though about it?
Fear is not something you can touch, see or hear. It is something created by the mind. The dictionary says "A feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger." The mind interprets sounds or things and based on previous experiences it may conclude it is a dangerous situation which then triggers the feeling of agitation and anxiety. Studies have proved that people develop specific fears as a result of learning. Fears can be acquired by a frightening traumatic accident. For example, if you had an accident caused by aggressive dog, you might acquire a fear of dogs. It is also possible to learn a fear even if you are not the one experienced the trauma. The fact that you see someone's fear or a situation that results in fear for someone is enough for you to develop the same type of fear.
Another source of fears is the evolution. Fears of different species like snakes and some beasts are product of humans evolution. Therefore some fears are coded deep into humans nature. It is suggested the fear of heights is developed long time ago during the during the Mesozoic period when first mammals also appeared. I know a person who is afraid from lightnings and it is coded hard inside him from his early years. His mother was scaring him when there was a storm outside, telling how dangerous lightnings are. Fear of something can be acquired from personal experiences, evolution or from other people's fear. No matter where it comes from it is something that exists only in our mind. Fear is only an illusion!
“Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.” ― Michael Jordan
Fears are actual also some barriers or limits. They stop us from acting.
"The first duty of man is to conquer fear; he must get rid of it, he cannot act till then." ― Thomas Carlyle
Everyone has fears and the way you can get rid of a fear is the same as the way you acquired it. You have to embrace it - you have to do what you are afraid of! Usually, the fear is killed at the moment you start doing what you are afraid of. Feel the fear and do it anyway. If you develop the discipline of doing what you are afraid of, you will have less fears and this is something liberating. Fears hold you in a cage. The less fears you have, the bigger your cage is. Successful people have less fears than others.

Fear


A very good quote coming from the movie "After Earth" is:
"Fear is not real. It's a product of thoughts you create. Now do not understand me, danger is very real. But fear is a choice." - Will Smith

Monday, 25 March 2013

Why "A" Students Work for "C" Students

Why "A" Students Work for "C" Students is the title of R. Kiyosaki's latest book. Research has shown that "C" students are more successful in life than "A" students. Why is this so?
To answer this question we need to see the differences in the behavior between the two types of students. "A" students are best in what they are told to do - "do your homework", "learn this and that", "read this book", "write about..." and so on. They are perfect in task executions and small goals completion - tasks and goals that someone else set for them. Their student years are their test for their capability for fitting into the world's "system" - get a job, work 5 days per week 9AM to 6PM, 52 week per year until you retire. Maybe "A" students have difficulty to set their own goals in life - by "goal" I mean things that are so big that will change their lives and most likely the lives of other people. Perhaps, "difficulty" is not the right word. Maybe the reason is that they don't have time to look around and understand how real life works. They expect somebody else to give them tasks and set their goals. But these goals are dreams and ideas of someone else and at the end this someone is the one who will fulfill his dreams and will live his dream life. "A" students want to perform great and usually like competition. In most of the cases, they have skills that excel them from others. Usually, they are very smart and intelligent and are great specialists in something.
On the other, hand "C" students totally fail in the test for fitting into the "system". Their poor marks show that during their student years they spend most of their time in things different from learning lessons and doing homework. Instead, they spend their time in something else. Perhaps, they spend time with each other - time  they learn how to communicate, how to understand the person in front, how to understand what someone's values are and how to use it. Maybe they think and discuss ideas?! Perhaps, they spend time in watching - they just watch how the world works. Or maybe, they just dream. They dream of big things - things that are so huge that usually would involve thousands of people to achieve. The most successful people in history are dreamers, so maybe it makes sense to think that if someone develops his dreaming skills from an early age, he would have good chances to become a successful person.

School, student, rich, success
School System
What do you think about difference between "A" students and "C" students? And what about the subtitle of the book - "...Why "B" Students Work for the Government" - do you have any opinion?