FOLLOW YOUR INNER VOICE

"Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive. Along with which comes the inner voice which says; 'this is the real me', and when you have found that attitude, then follow it."

                                                                                        

This quotation by William James, the great American Physician, Psychologist and Philosopher, considered by many to be the father of American Psychology, stands out like a compass pointing to correct human behavior and attitude. It is a powerful platform for individuals interested in self-awareness and self-help, and as a result, is very often incorporated in the advice and recommendations of all the great inspirational speakers.

In this simple statement, James was able to project the fundamental components that make up any successful action. The steps he recommended are clear and uncompromising and are based on a few fundamental principles. You must begin by finding something which kindles your interest and desires, then you must be sure of your willingness to commit yourself and your spirit, and when you have, then follow your mind to fulfillment.

To a very large extent, the success or failure of any individual behavior depends entirely on the strengths of the attitude, the belief and the commitment he brings to bear at the given time. We all have within us the capacity to improve our lives if we really wanted to do so, but whether we succeed or not depends entirely on if we care enough and are we willing to do what is necessary to achieve it. I am sure that we have all seen instances when people have surmounted enormous obstacles to achieve success and we stand amazed at their ability.  But the real underlying truth in all these situations lies not in luck or any special personal ability, but in the depth of commitment, the unwavering attitude and the belief in self, exhibited by the individual.

For as long as man has survived on the planet there have been instances of people rising above their perceived limitations and succeeding by dint of commitment and self-searching, and by listening to their inner voice when every one around gave up on them. People like:

 -Vincent Van Gogh, one of the world’s most successful artists, whose work was rejected by every one, yet he persisted.

     

–Albert Einstein, one of the greatest mathematicians of all time who never spoke until age 3 and was considered by his teachers to be lazy and useless in childhood.

–Helen Keller, who despite a debilitating deaf-blind affliction at age 2 years, learned to read and write and went on to obtain a college bachelor degree.

 –Beethoven, one of the most respected of the classical composers who lost his hearing early in his life, but continued on to produced immortal classics.

These are but a few of the large number of people who successfully overcame serious obstacles and achieved their dreams of glory. They followed their inner voices and listened to them as they trusted their intuition to lead them in the correct direction. All of this served to give them a strength of conviction and empowered them to go forward undaunted with belief in themselves and their ability.

Every one of us does in fact, possess the potential and ability to achieve our dream, but unfortunately because of our conditioning to avoid risk and failure, we naturally chose the path of least resistance. We end up choosing the safer option of care and trepidation and listen to the voice of fear and caution rather than accept the challenges and go forward with confidence. It is no surprise that we can only feel comfortable in this society built on conformity and the avoidance of risk-taking by suppressing our instincts. In this setting, any one who tries to alter the rules or tries to challenge them is discouraged by the rest. In fact those who try to follow their dream are criticized or frowned upon as an attempt to live differently.

The result of this effect on the majority, having been conditioned by the prevailing influences of constant negative past experiences and the need to keep within safe and risk-free waters, is that our inner voice remains buried deep in our psyche under mountains of inadequacies and insecurities. When this happens, when we lose that inner voice, we become passive followers of the prevailing influences and we are lost in the safety of the crowd, never to appreciate what our true worth is.

But this state need never exist with any one of us, if we only remember that in the end it always remains up to us individually, to do what is necessary to initiate and institute the changes needed to ‘find’ our inner voice and listen to it and be our true selves. James himself very effectively summarizes this attitude in the following way:

“Be not afraid of life.

Believe that life is worth living,             

And your belief will help create the fact.”

-No truer words have ever been said by anybody who genuinely cares!

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DARE TO LIVE LIFE

DARE TO LIVE LIFE

“Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.”

This unforgettably powerful advice was given by the great American essayist and lecturer Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1858 when he addressed the graduating class at Harvard University, urging them to go forward and live their dreams. It has remained a standard call that has been repeated over and over to any one who dared to live their life on their own terms.

Gen. Alexander M Haig Jnr., the American military leader and elder statesman, expressed this idea in a somewhat more decisive manner when he stated:

  “Ultimately the fundamental difference between us when we are faced with adversity lies in our willingness to dare or not to dare and for no other reason”

                                                                  

This advice in fact applies to each and every one of us and to everything that we do or do not do in our lives. It calls on each one of us to recognize it’s validity in our own way, and to what extent we are prepared to respond and to how much we are prepared to expend.

                                                                        

Almost 2000 years ago, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the great Roman philosopher and statesman, recognized this paradox and the reason why we choose different outcomes when he wrote:

“It is not because things are difficult, that we do not Dare,
it is because we do not Dare, that they are difficult.”

That statement is as valid and as relevant now as it was 2000 years ago. Every one of us can readily think of other people whose behavior or attitude toward a special occasion or event has so impressed us that we stand in awe of them. These people were not superhuman, nor were they endowed with any special gifts. They came from among us and shared our weaknesses and our strengths. The only difference is that in that very special situation and under very special conditions, they faced and dealt with adversity at a level far above their comfort levels. They dared to rise above their obstacles and live life above and beyond their normal expectations.
        

Of the very many examples that have crossed my life over the years, three have impressed me and have left indelible imprints on me, each for a different reason;

     The first is the renowned theoretical physicist Stephen William Hawking, whose contributions to the fields of quantum gravity and cosmology are hailed by the world's community of scientists. In his lifetime, he has opened up our understanding of the origin of the universe and facilitated space study, understanding and exploration.
     At the age of 21 years, while still a student at Cambridge University, England, he was diagnosed with a serious neuromuscular disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). This is a uniformly fatal disease, characterized by progressive paralysis of all the body’s muscles leading to total incapacity. Yet despite progressive, relentless and incapacitating deterioration, he continued to lead an active academic life, lecturing all over the world, publishing many original and ground-breaking papers and scholarly books. Amazingly, he was able to lead a full and rewarding personal life. He is married with three children, has traveled to many countries and participated in a range of lifestyle experiences, including traveling into outer space.
   All of this was accomplished while being almost completely paralyzed and confined permanently to a wheelchair. He is able to communicate only by using a single facial muscle and a very sophisticated computer system. Despite this, he continues to combine family life with his teaching and research into theoretical physics with an extensive program of travel and public lectures.

   To meet this man is awe-inspiring, not only for the brilliance of his mind, but even much more, to witness the way he was able to overcome these gargantuan obstacles with an aura of confidence and optimism, even as he appears as a “crumpled bundle of humanity” with only a flutter of his muscle to communicate to the world. Indeed his is the story of a man who defiantly faced his obstacles, and dared to live his life to its fullest.
            

The second is someone with whom I have had a close relationship for most of my life. He is a man who, for as long as I have known him, has been an indefatigably ambitious man who has never flinched from a challenge and very rarely lost anyone of them. By dint of intense personal effort, hard work and an inexhaustible supply of optimism, he has developed a very successful enterprise and an equally enviable reputation. He has earned the highest respect from his community for his Business skills and generous philanthropy.
     Recently, as a result of a series of unfortunate accidents and some questionable medical management, he suffered a serious neck injury leading to almost complete paralysis of the upper and lower body resulting in total dependence on others and confinement to bed.

    To any other man, including myself, this would have resulted in such disappointment and antagonism as to precipitate profound anger and resentment. But in this case this did not happen. Instead we witnessed a change that was at once philosophical as it was a genuine acceptance of a “new life”. Rather than resentment, there was a genuine desire to adapt and to accommodate, and instead of anger, there was an urgent effort to learn so that he could teach others by example and experience. Here again, is a unique example of a man who refused to succumb to life-changing adversity and instead, he grabbed it with both hands and dared to live his new life to his fulfillment.

                      

     The third person’s story came to my attention following the publication of his autobiography entitled “Ghost Boy” a few years ago. It recalls the account of a young man who suffered a life shattering disease at the age of twelve years causing him to gradually lose control of his body and finally falling into a coma at age sixteen. He subsequently began to show gradual recovery of consciousness but not function, so that by age nineteen he was fully conscious, apparently totally aware of his surroundings but unable to communicate. At least this was the assumption for a long time until an alert caregiver recognized that he used his eyes to respond to her and to indicate that he understood. It was only then that corrective action was started. He was provided with a specially adapted speech computer which allowed him to communicate with others. Over the succeeding years he was able to gain further improvement in function so much so that he was able to complete his education, get married and start work. Despite this traumatic experience, this young man has shown great courage and sensitivity without any regret, and has dared to live his new life unfazed by past experiences. Catherine Deveney, an author and journalist, described this in greater detail in an article in The Scotsman Newspaper in 2011:

“His levels of empathy are remarkable, perhaps because he was forced for so many years into the role of watcher and listener, hearing people unburden their problems around him absorbing their pain without them knowing. His communication is strikingly direct, almost fearless in the way he confronts emotional reality."
        

These are but three examples of thousands that exist around us. They are individually inspiring to us as witnesses of the events and induce in us a sense of awe and disbelief, but to the individuals, they are merely natural responses to the circumstances of life.

           

         This indeed is the true test of our characters and the fundamental differences among us. It is when we are faced with adversity and we are called upon to deal with it, that our true character comes out. No one ever said life was easy or fair and none ever promised a bed of roses free from thorns, but we all have within us the ability to overcome these obstacles. The only question is whether we choose to make the effort, to dare, to face them!

           

         In this context we should recognize that this ability is by no means unique to just the few successful people but available to all. Throughout the ages, the single most consistent attribute among all who have set out to achieve and succeeded to do so, is the willingness to face difficulties and dare to overcome them at all cost. We see this every day, in every situation and it involves everybody. The only consistent ingredient necessary in every instant is the recognition that, with the right spirit and a willingness to overcome failure, any thing can be achieved. The late Robert F. Kennedy, American Senator and Attorney-General, summarized this most eloquently when he wrote:

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”

                                        

-No greater advice than this can ever be given!

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LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE

“All true learning is experience.

Everything else is just information.”

These words recorded by Albert Einstein, the German born, American Nobel Laureate theoretical physicist whose Theory of Relativity is considered to be one of the two pillars of modern physics (the other is Quantum Mechanics). He expressed this opinion in the 1990’s during a discussion on the role of experience in learning. The statement very effectively and definitively condenses one of the most   important principles in learning, that without the benefit of experience, learning is ineffective. This principle surprisingly is still challenged by a number of authorities who believe that learning is more strongly correlated to inborn, genetic characteristics, than it is to appropriate experience.

 Learning is generally defined as a “process of acquiring new knowledge or skill through study, experience or teaching”. But to me, true learning is much more complex than this.  It can only be considered meaningful when it is accompanied with changes in basic understanding and behavioral potential of the individual. It is not merely the acquisition of information but rather the assimilation of such information and its subsequent incorporation into the individual’s psyche and behavior. In truth, we are what we learn.

Over a person’s lifetime, there is no doubt that the experience of Living is by far the greatest and most effective source of learning. This is a fundamental fact has been universally and consistently recognized and accepted throughout the ages by the majority of the great thinkers and philosophers of all cultures.  The renowned ancient Roman philosophers Pliny and Tacitus, both strongly insisted that:

 “Experience is the most efficient teacher”,

 and Julius Caesar publicly acknowledged that:

 “Experience is the teacher of all things.”

 Mahatma Gandhi went further and noted that:

  “Knowledge gained through experience is far superior and many times more useful than bookish knowledge.”
        

Formal education, though extremely important in assisting us to obtain the best opportunities in our lives, is not necessarily always the most important component. The history of the world is replete with examples of people who have become very successful in every conceivable aspect of life without ever completing their appropriate formal education. This should not be surprising since in many such instances their success is based primarily on their innate ability to maximize their life experiences. The following are some of the endless examples of people whose contributions have changed the course of history:

-Abraham Lincoln, considered one of the greatest U.S. Presidents, finished 1 year of formal schooling then continued his education by self-teaching to become a lawyer.

-Andrew Jackson, successful as a soldier, lawyer, judge and U.S. president, was essentially home-schooled, without receiving any formal school education.  

-Benjamin Franklin, one of the greatest sons of America, a founding father of the nation, inventor, scientist, author and entrepreneur relied primarily on home-schooling.

-Christopher Columbus, the great explorer who discovered the Americas, was essentially self-taught, learning all the intricacies of sailing from experience.

-Frank Lloyd Wright, possibly the most famous architect of the twentieth century, never continued beyond primary school.

-Henry Ford, the father of the assembly line for car-making never completed high school.

-Winston Churchill, considered one of the greatest British statesmen, historian and artist, failed high school and never attended college. He was credited with saving Britain during WW11.

In my own lifetime many of the very successful inventors, entrepreneurs and game changers I have encountered or have read about have been high school and/or college dropouts who chose to abandon the formal programs of learning to go their own way. These include, Bill Gates and Paul Allen (microsoft), Steve Jobs (apple), Michael Dell (computers), Larry Ellison (oracle), Larry Page and Sergio Brin (google) and Mark Zuckerberg (facebook). They  succeeded without the benefit of formal education but by their individual and joint efforts to change the world in dramatic and unimaginable ways over a period of just over a decade. In all these cases, these exceptional people chose to forego the conventional road to enrichment and trusting their instincts, go forward on their own learning, acquiring the experience as they moved on.

This does not, in my mind, argue for the condemnation of an organized schooling system as a primary source of education. The overwhelming majority of students require an organized, structured, orderly milieu to be able to learn and to grow. For these students it is therefore imperative that they be offered the best possible opportunity to learn and acquire knowledge. But there will always be a special group of individuals who will rise above the conventional standard and choose their own road, using nothing but experience and their innate ability as their guide.

        

Unfortunately the true failing of our educational systems is that they do not make allowance for the needs and variations of individual students. They cannot provide the flexibility that allows the individual to learn from experience in the group setting of formal teaching. Instead students spend their learning years locked in a proscribed curriculum, held within boundaries laid down for the majority, which are zealously guarded under the pretext of being the only efficient way. It is no surprise therefore that the majority of students complete their education full of knowledge but unwilling to venture out and risk failure.

Within the last twenty years however the situation has been changing as educationalists search for ways to effectively incorporate experiential learning into the conventional systems. This is very definitely facilitated by the universal availability of computers, the increased use of interactive procedures by teachers and students and the rapid development of electronic based programs. This, to my mind, is clearly the direction to follow since it provides a range of meaningful opportunities to satisfy the different needs of the students and allows them to develop to their maximal potential at their own pace.

All this in keeping with the famous quotation by Xun Kuang, a Chinese Confucian Philosopher who lived from 312 – 230 BC, which is still considered to be the banner of Learning from Experience:

“Tell me and I forget.

Teach me and I remember.

Involve me and I learn.”

                  

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