All your beliefs, prejudices, and habits are products of the environment you grew up in or the environment you’re in now.
Recently I read “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” again and it made me question my thoughts and subconscious mindset about money and business.
So ask yourself from time to time why you believe something, why you behave like that, or why you’re doing that right now. Your parents and your environment shaped you and planted thoughts and beliefs in you.
For example, the traditional school and my parents taught me to work hard and become successful and be ready for the future. I had really good grades, but my sister had better ones and she got more appreciation than I did. Even though I also was one of the best students in class.
I always was ambitious to get the best grades and get higher education. But the book made me question all of that.
Question the environment you’re living in.
Question the society you’re living in or you lived in.
Why do you have that job? Why do you think like that?
Why do you like this kind of person and why you don’t like the other kind of person?
Why are you addicted to something? Why are you wearing those things?
Why do you have those friends?
Why do you have those things?
Question the things you’re doing.
Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words,
your words become your actions, your actions become your habits,
your habits become your values, your values become your destiny.
– Mahatma Gandhi
Is your job hurting somebody else?
Are the food and the company you’re buying it from hurting other people or the environment?
Don’t take anything for granted. Especially not freedom.
A lot of people fought really hard that you now have the freedom to choose a job or a political party.
The greatest physicists questioned the world, life, and belief.
Because of that, they invented things that were never here before which are now used day by day like the light bulb.
Somebody thought that a light bulb is impossible.
Everything you’re using right now was invented once and somebody thought it was impossible to do.
The people in the 19th century or even at the beginning of the 20th century wouldn’t even imagine a device like I’m writing about right now.
The whole scientific research is based on questioning stuff and its purpose.
We need to rethink everything once in a while so that we don’t get used to it and take it for granted.
Today I listened to a podcast which was about time management. And he questioned the week: the 7 days time period.
Question your consumerism
Did you once take a look around you at all the stuff you have? We should be really grateful to have all this stuff.
But it’s also limiting us. It needs space, it cost money which we had to work for.
Why did you buy those things? Do you remember? Are they useful?
Do you really need the latest iPhone or could the old one still work too?
You are working hard for that money. If you are getting 20 € per hour and the phone costs 1000€ then you worked 50 hours for that.
Is it really worth it?
Question your income and expenses
I always liked the idea of calculating how many hours you had to work to buy that thing. That gives you a new perspective.
I see myself as a minimalist, even though I still have too many things (in my opinion). I always put my income in relation to my expenses and check if I’m not spending too much.
I’ll question my expenses. Is it really necessary? Do I really need to buy that?
One thing that also got me hooked:
Why is a week 7 days long?
This number has no meaning at all.
I’ve never questioned that before and it never even occurred to me to think about it.
But a long time ago some guys wanted to separate the time, so they introduced the week with the seven planets or movable objects they’ve seen in the sky.
So it makes no sense that we have a week with 7 days, 5 work days, and a weekend.
Also, our body or energy rhythm isn’t based on that week. Some people are already exhausted after a few days and some after 10 days.
That was just a small part of what I’m thinking about right now.
So question everything. Don’t take it for granted. Also, think about why you think like that about something. Did your parents tell you or showed you how to think about that? Did you learn it from your experiences?
Don’t let your thoughts and life get controlled by other people. Make your own decisions. Listen to your gut feeling.
Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t mean that you have to do it too!
When everybody is jumping off the bridge, are you jumping too?
Thanks for reading! 🙂
If you are interested in also reading the book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and other view-changing books, then take a look at my book list.
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