How do the rich become richer and the happy become happier?
Hey friends,
This is a post I call “Weekly Wisdom”, which includes different perspectives and life lessons that I feel can bring mental clarity to people.
Let’s dive in.
- The Boar and the Fox — Aesop’s Fables
A Boar was sharpening his tusks busily against the stump of a tree, when a Fox passed by. The Fox was always looking for a chance to have fun and pull pranks on his neighbors. While trying to get the Boar’s attention, the Boar kept right on with his work.
“Why are you sharpening your tusks?” asked the Fox, “There isn’t any danger that I can see.”
“True enough,” replied the Boar, “but when danger does come, there will not be time for such work as this. My weapons will have to be ready for use then, or I shall suffer for it.”
I had the pleasure of running into this story during a perfect moment in my life. I released my first YouTube video after much hesitation. And after feeling the joy of publishing it, this story reminded me that the next day meant humbling myself and going back to work, riding the momentum of action.
I think it is very true that during times of peace, we must prepare ourselves for times of chaos. As it will come inevitably.
2. Big Mo and the Compound Effect — Darren Hardy
Author of The Compound Effect, Darren Hardy, introduces an idea called “Big Mo” that superachievers use to incorporate momentum, and allow it to catapult them to greater heights of success. It stems from the idea of Newton’s Law of Inertia. That objects at rest tend to stay at rest unless acted on by an outside force. And objects in motion tend to stay in motion, unless something stops their momentum. Put another way, couch potatoes tend to stay couch potatoes. Achievers — people who get into a successful rhythm — continue busting their butts and end up achieving more and more.
Ever wonder why successful people tend to get more successful… the rich get richer… the happy get happier… the luck get luckier? Darren Hardy says it’s because they have “Big Mo” on their side.
To get a picture of Big Mo, think of a hand-pumped water well. It uses a pipe to draw water up from the water table several feet underground. To get the water to the surface, you have to pump the well’s lever to create the suction that brings the water above the ground and out of the spout. See image below.
In the beginning, it takes a considerable amount of effort of pumping to get a few drops of water out of the spout. It takes consistency to get to the point of full stream of water pouring, in which it’s no longer required to pump the lever as hard or as as quickly to maintain the steady flow of water.
This is Big Mo. He allows the momentum generated in the beginning to take on a life of its own.
So the lesson is, we must be consistent with our positive efforts in changing ourselves and performing well. Results don’t come right away, but with time and effort, we’ll be rewarded, big time.
3. Every storm runs out of rain — Maya Angelou and Gary Allan
In the best selling book, The Third Door, there’s a story where Maya Angelou get’s asked what a person should do when she is going through tough times. Angelou says there is a country song out (by Gary Allan), which she’d wish she’d written, that says “Every storm runs out of rain.” Angelou says to make a sign out of it and place it where you will always see it.
I think this is a good reminder for everyone, as we all go through challenging moments in our lives. Times when we search for rainbows but we often only find clouds instead.
But as Angelou views it, hardships never last, and the rainbows eventually show up.
4. Redesigning our mind — Peter Crone
Mind architect, Peter Crone, who focuses on reshaping our minds to become more free with ourselves, states that if we don’t take care of our subconscious minds first when we “work on ourselves”, we eventually only become the greatest version of our limited self.
I will digress, and circle back.
Emotional pain is becoming more apparent than physical pain in this day and age as we transition to a more convenient, tech driven society. We face less physical confrontations but more covert moments of pain. And as the world changes, our tools that are used to treat ourselves haven’t. With more emotional pain, I strongly believe that Mental fortitude and self awareness are skills becoming increasingly more essential, but continuously being overlooked.
So in order to take on this new era, let’s make an effort to have a deeper understanding of who we are and what we value, so we can overcome our inner struggles and eventually become the greatest versions of our unlimited self.
Those are my some of my bigger lessons of the week. I hope you all enjoyed the nuggets as much as I did, and I hope these bits of wisdom propel you to more peace and joy in your lives.
Much Love,
David
