Battling ego, temptations and big bucks

When you hear someone say they’re growth-oriented and yet get riled up on hearing the slightest feedback, you know something doesn’t add up.

In theory, we all know that feedback is imperative to growth but when put to practice, things take a different turn….

At some deep level, humans are wired for validation. We love being praised and having people echo our beliefs. The moment any of this is challenged, our brains sense this as a threat, and well…. god save the other.

This tendency to immediately disregard differing opinions and prove one’s worth by forcing personal views on others is called the totalitarian ego. Before you start equating Donald Trump to this, it’s something all of us are guilty of.

Having this inner dictator guide us does far more damage than one would be aware of. It leads to ignorance, fuels arrogance and stunts personal growth; because reinforcing existing views while refusing to entertain any other ideas, puts you in a bubble while shutting off the rest of reality.

It’s kinda what happened to Blackberry.

Mike Lazardis took immense pride in building the Blackberry device. He was as good as being recognized as the pioneer of the wireless phone industry until the iPhone arrived on the scene.

Seeing the receptivity people had to the iPhone’s seamless experience, Blackberry’s engineers tried telling Mike what the market was asking for but…

Mike was too proud of what Blackberry offered, so much so that he missed sight of the full picture.

He didn’t test any alternatives or gain more feedback in the form of market insight. As much of a genius the guy was, Mike’s inability to be open to new perspectives caused Blackberry to lose its market share to Apple. And the rest as they say is history…

This example is still relevant given that so many leaders, teachers, parents and ‘people of significance’ fall into the pressure of showing that they know it all. But it’s humanly impossible to have all the answers all the time.

Ironically enough what ends up building more credibility is actually asking questions and being hungry for learning. Adam Grant calls this confident humility. It’s about having faith in our capability while recognizing that we don’t always have the right solutions.

So don’t be afraid to embrace your curiosity because the returns of welcoming feedback are more valuable than you would imagine.

How to stay on top of your A-game

Choosing ease and comfort feels great momentarily but when it becomes a way of life, it can actually feel pretty unfulfilling. In a world where distraction and pleasure dominate us, resisting temptation and making wiser choices has become a matter of real character.

In this short and sweet episode, I share a few hacks on how to beat instant gratification, that have personally worked for me and could help you too.

You know you don't want to be going into 2024 with the same destructive habits and self-bashing mindset.

Most people get conditioned to believe that happiness comes from having big bucks in the bank, gaining high social status, or other material successes. But I stumbled across this video that shares some pretty interesting facts about billionaires.

Bet you didn’t see this coming…

Safe to say that happiness is just a result of having the right mindset.

In case you missed the last newsletter👇🏼

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