5 Lies You Have To Stop Believing If You Want To Make An Impact In Life

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1. That there is some sort of template to life.

I honestly do not know who decided that going through an organized set of curriculum in school, getting a degree, getting a Masters, getting a job, buying a car, buying a house, getting married, and having kids is the basic blue print of human life. What I do know is that billions of people are born and die following the same life plan and no one knows if they even existed a few generations down the line — including the people sharing DNA with them. This blueprint only exists so that 1% of the people whose lives actually matter can continue to triumph over everyone else.

2. That practical statistics will always apply to you.

We are all born with the same mind and it is only how our minds are cultivated with preconceived notions that determines how we leave the world. Every time a child dreams, they are presented with a bunch of statistics indicating how improbable the achievement of his or her dream might be. Thus, they must readjust their life in order to achieve a more achievable goal (see the template mentioned above). The thing about statistics is that people who actually get to the less probable statistical point are the ones who have the everything-or-nothing approach when presented with these numbers because the numbers do not scare them, but the lack of challenge does.

3. That you should always have a plan B.

Ever wondered how all of us have a plan A (our true passion), but being caught up in plan B and making sure we are on track with the blueprint of life is what makes us end up with the realization that it is too late for plan A? Plan B is only a diversion from plan A. I have never met a single successful person who wasn’t looked upon as a crazy dreamer by the people in his or her life. Sure, not everyone’s dreams come true but a life spent in the pursuit of one’s passion is much more fulfilling than settling down with the safe route.When I asked someone who went from crazy dreamer to the successful example that people refer to, about his backup plan, all he had to say was “Plan B is bullshit; if your goals are outrageous you need to give it your 100% and you need to set priorities because you can’t have it all in every possible sphere of life. You need to pick one way and drive at maximum speed, you can’t stop and look back at the things that you might be missing out on or the things you might or might not need but society tells you to have them.”

4. That being selfish is a bad thing.

Society, religion, and almost everything about the world points to the fact that being selfish and living a life just to fulfill your needs is a bad thing. It is not! It is not your job to make sure if the world is a beautiful place for everyone to live in and it is not at all your job to make everyone around you happy. The only way to be acceptable is to be nothing, do nothing, and say nothing while you live the exact same life as everyone you know. If you ever want your dreams to come true, you really need to learn to filter out the voices around you and listen only to your inner voice because you are the only person to whom you owe everything.

5. That Heaven is a carrot to be dangled in front of you if you’re well-behaved.

For a second, let us consider a possibility that there is no heaven. Let’s just assume that because all the religious scriptures ever written were written by mortals, heaven might be just a theory or fiction. What is the end game here? You lived your entire life for one sole purpose of finding peace in a dreamland but it doesn’t exist! What now? What was the point? What if you’re just born again to repeat the cycle? At a given moment, let’s say right now, there are SIX BILLION people in the world and the thing about the game of life is that in a century, they all WILL die (unless the myth about vampires is true). From the moment all of these people were born, they were taught to behave in a certain predefined manner that is deemed proper. They were taught to please people in their life and they were taught to fit in no matter how much of their soul they had to kill for it. There are set rules and parameters to follow in every culture and everyone who flirts with the outlines of these will earn bad names for sure, and who wants that? It’s too scary to stand alone, all by yourself outside the umbrella of validation, isn’t it? It’s oh so warm and cozy in the zone where you are accepted and where you fit in. But that’s not where life begins. Go. Ruffle a little feathers. Make an impact. After all, it’s like Katharine Hepburn said: the well-behaved seldom make history.

featured image – David Blackwell