“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
- Henry David Thoreau
Those words were true when they were written 150 years ago and they will still be true 150 years from now. The question is why? Why do most of us lead lives of quiet desperation?
I believe it’s because we are trapped in a vice squeezing the life out of us with two terrible pincers.
From behind we are assaulted by REGRET….
Why didn’t I buy those shares of Amazon back in 1999? Why did I let the one who got away, get away? Why didn’t I spend more time with my kids back when they wanted to spend time with me?
Regret doesn’t do much good. It imprisons you in a futile struggle with mistakes of the past.
In front we are assaulted by INSECURITY…
Our whole pop-culture cabal is set up to make sure that we’re insecure. Insecure folks buy more stuff. It’s good for business to have everyone staggering around in a perpetual anxious haze of feeling “less than.”
And social media has turned up the “Make us all Feel Like Losers Ray Gun” to 11 by bringing us an incessant stream of images via Fakebook and Insta-Sham of everyone else having the time of their life.
Everyone is having the most amazing vacation, sipping the most amazing cocktail, enjoying the most amazingly perfect family, kicking amazing amounts of ass at work.
And anything, ANYTHING you got, someone’s got bigger, got better, got more. Way more.
Proud of leasing your first Lexus?
Haven’t you seen Floyd “Money” Mayweather’s new Bugatti? It’s red on red on red.
Excited about maxing out your IRA contribution for $5,500?
Didn’t you know that Kylie Jenner pulled down $20 Million last year? Mark Zuckerberg’s worth north of $60 Billion. Get your ass in gear and start earning dude!
It’s hard to focus on the incremental improvement needed to make our lives better when we are constantly bombarded by the photo-shopped ultra-filtered hyper-success of everyone…always.
This Insecurity wastes our energies on the exploits of others instead of where it belongs, focused on our own lives.
A Moment of Clarity
“Life is a banquet, and most poor sons-a-bitches are starving to death.”
- Patrick Dennis
So how can we escape this suffocating vice of Insecurity and Regret? How can we self-actualize as human beings? How can we reach our full potential and exert our energy on things that matter?
I think that it comes down to asking ourselves, each day, what I consider The Magic Question:
What has the Universe served up for me today?
This question is deceptively simply, but very powerful.
When you are paralyzed by ancient regrets and modern insecurities, shake them out of your head. Be present, be mindful. Focus. Look around, at your today, at your now. What has the Universe served up for you today?
Do not ask, what has the Universe served up for someone else today?
Do not ask, what has the Universe served up for Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus or that jackhole of a boss you work for?
Do not ask, what had the Universe served up for you, back when you were 22 and the world was young?
No, those lists are long, dispiriting and pointless. The correct question to ask is:
What has the Universe served up for me today?
I bet there are amazing things that the universe is serving up for you right now.
Is there an opportunity to follow up with that potential client you met at the industry conference last week?
Is there an opportunity to start that Paleo diet you’ve been reading about?
Is there an opportunity to call your Mom and tell her that you love her?
Replacing the Scarcity Mentality with the Abundance Mentality
“If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough.”
- Oprah Winfrey
The Magic Question is a practical mechanism that enables you to shift your worldview away from a scarcity mentality and towards an abundance mentality.
Don’t worry about what you lost in the past. Don’t worry about what other’s have in the present.
Worry about what delicious morsels of opportunity are on your plate today, in front of you now.
Success is about incremental progress. Baby step, baby step, baby step. Taking the first step today, puts you in a better place to make progress tomorrow. And so on and so on. That’s why the tortoise beats the hare.
The Magic Question illuminates the steps you can take today, moves that you can make now.
What has the Universe served up for you today?
You might be surprised what you find if you really look.