My Theories and Lessons Learned

As I live life I tend to create my own theories/thoughts/guidelines as I start to notice patterns.  I like to document them as they come.  Here are some thoughts that have hit me lately.

"Just before you begin to get smarter, you first feel really stupid"- SM

•  The graph below represents the population as a whole.  As people mature in their environment they are within one of the brackets and progress from 'dumb' to 'smart' as they understand the world around them better.  If they stay in their current environment, less is unknown to them and they maintain in a lower bracket in the pyramid, but at the top of their bracket.  If they choose to change their environment or a change is brought on forcing a drastic change, they will break through to a higher bracket , realizing that they knew less than they thought they did, but their potential for learning increases.  The pyramid represents the world population, people have a different 'maximum bracket' that they will achieve in their lives.  It all depends on how much they decide to explore, discover and learn in their lifetimes.  In order to keep progressing up the pyramid one would have to break out of their comfort zone each time they feel like they are quite knowledgeable able their current surrounding environment and no longer being challenged.

"Everything is always changing.  Nothing is constant.  It's about being flexible and adaptable to your environment"- SM

• successful companies are the onces that are constantly changing their business and business model to fit the ever changing needs of their consumers and environment.  There is no one business or product that has remained forever constant.
• Relationships with people are not always perfect, but the ultimate personal relationship knows how to handle different situations and issues in a constructive manner and the people will evolve and change together. 

"There is no ultimate truth.  Everything is how we perceive it to be in the moment" /"The only reality that exists is perceived"- SM 

• Combined with different experience, ages, emotions, view points, i.e., no two people will ever view a situation in the same way, and even one person at different points in time will view a situation differently.
• A clear example would be fashion.  People will love or hate the same thing.  You could love an outfit one day, and then 30 years look back at a picture and think to yourself, "what the heck was I thinking?!"
• One second you could think you are in a perfect relationship.  The next moment you may only see flaws.  In hindsight you will see the same situation very differently again. 

"Decide something.  It doesn't always need to be perfect.  Things are always changing anyway.  You just need to be able to adapt to your changing environment"- SM

• Don't be afraid to fail.  We learn more from failures than we do from success.  Indecision which leads to no action is much worse than a wrong decision that can later be corrected or modified.

• Why Fail?

• 1) ENCOURAGES LATERAL THINKING
  Failure encourages us to look for other more creative solutions that we ordinarily would not have thought of.
  2) GIVES US EXPERIENCE
  If we had succeeded immediately without the disappointment associated with failure then we may not get familiar with the full scope of the subject matter.
  3) BUILDS CHARACTER / SELF DISCOVERY
  We can learn from the experience, gain confidence, build character and become more the person that we ideally wish to be.  In the process you'll also find out more about yourself.  When you take the time and effort to overcome hardships you'll figure out how badly you actually want it.
  4) MAKES ONE MORE THICKSKINNED
  Becoming thickskinned is really a by-product of character building with a bit more; it shows the development of the individual and reflects the change in attitude that brings the best out of us all.
  5) SUCCESS TOO SOON CAN GIVE FALSE CONFIDENCE
  Working hard and trying multiple routes will give someone more knowledge than the person who made a couple of lucky right decisions to start with.
  6) FAILURE REVEALS YOUR WEAKNESSES
  By being more aware of where you are weak, you can improve yourself or then begin to focus more on your strengths.

"Its never a good thing to seek or expect the approval of everyone, it is impossible to receive it, there will always be critics.  Go with your gut, and when you need a more objective view, select a few people which of whom you trust and value their opinions."- SM