The Necessary Lies We Need To Succeed.
It’s a common rule of thumb to forget the story and celebrate the glory. Without mincing words, no one is interested in your merciless…
It’s a common rule of thumb to forget the story and celebrate the glory. Without mincing words, no one is interested in your merciless drudgery or the amount of time you put in getting things done. The shame-shamble history repeats itself; we all want to be celebrated. Most of the time, we are aware that some lies must be carefully crafted for a success story to evolve. We know this, yet we choose to live in a world of perfection where the seeming rules of success are disavowed by mere mortals.
We live in a world were the idea of necessary lies is laughable but the idea of living a perfect life, one with no blemish or stain, is not. This quaint idea in many instances stems from both cultural and hand-me-down religious beliefs that tends toward quixotic fantasies. Only if we can take a moment to critically examine what we have been told so as to dimiss that which insults our soul. As easy as it seems, sadly, it is barely possible.
Sapiens as written by: Yuval Noah Harari, examines the characteristics of the mankind we know of today, homo sapiens, that made us to survive as prehistoric humans and dominate. These characteristics lie in our ability to believe in the supernatural, cultural and value system. Only six million years prior, a solitary female ape had two little girls: One became the ancestor of all chimpanzees, the other is our very own grandmother. Many may not believe this due the addiction we derive in our value system that ceaselessly fills our conviction. Our belief system prompted our survival amongst every single other specie of man. Thus, it is almost impossible to change a man’s belief.
I believe there are necessary lies, and this might dent your idea of perfection. But of course, my belief originates from actual principles and laws from the lives of successful people that work. These two principles I have come up with are strictly empirical and not biased. Therefore, it is pertinent to note that whatever ideology I have come up with, it is left for you to critically examine further in order to reach a definitive closure.
1# The Canard Principle
This principle stems from the popular anxious priori approach that governs a man. A canard man believes everything he sees on the “information superhighway”. Likely perturbing, the canard man thus becomes terribly perplexed and often disgruntled about life. Everyone is going too fast… everybody has accomplished a lot. Lurking deep in even the most civilized amongst us is the basic fear of comparison, and we fail to tamp it down. Because of this, a lot of stress and energy is put into becoming like the people on the internet causing the mind to lose its balance. After all, our desperation is constantly fueled by the notion that perfection is achievable in our mortal eyes.
The necessary lie desired is in tandem with the fourth spiritual law of success — the law of least effort. This law was carefully designed to prune out the obsession with perfection. Needing something desperately puts you in the position of not having it. Ergo, it is better you tread life with ease and negate everything people say about themselves on the internet, thus letting your mind become as fluid as water. Your time and energy are limited. Obviating from the truth that some might actually be who they claim to be, it is important to note that the farther you are from the truth, the more fluid your mind becomes. This skill — a very useful one — helps to filter your mind through the metaphor of the matrix for clarity of purpose. Once you learn this skill, your options suddenly expand creating enough time and energy for the things that matter.
2# The Overkill Principle
Life is so unfair, and the earlier you acknowledge this, the better for you. Even for success to occur, sometimes, you will realise that Newton’s third law of motion doesn’t hold — your input does not commensurate to your output. Likewise, waiting for success to come to you can be described as a spectacular display of madness or simply a waste of time. This brings us to the familiarity of the parlance: ‘fake it till you make it’ or if you prefer, ‘faith it till you make it’. The overkill principle is centered on yielding to expectations and believing in it. This requires your intentionality in every form. You must push yourself, in other words ‘overkill’ in order to create an aura of entitlement to prepare you for the inadvertence of success.
Phil Knight — the creator of Nike — in his book revealed that he told an honest lie in order to strike a deal with the Japanese. He cunningly told a carefully designed fable and claimed he had an office on the East Coast when it was not true in reality. He is also known for series of prevarications, although, he backed up his claims with hardwork and sheer doggedness. This is a necessary lie we must desire.
“I’d tell men and women in their midtwenties not to setlle for a job or a profession or even a career. Seek a calling. Even if you don’t know what that means, seek it. If you are following your calling, the fatigue will be easier to bear, the dissappointments will be fuel, the highs will be like nothing you’ve ever felt” — Excerpt from: Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE” by Phil Knight.
The Bottom Line
The old maxim that says: “Lying is bad and you should invariably tell the truth” isn’t always true. In fact, it is quite clear that there are honest lies that we need to embrace in order to succeed and their essentiality cannot be over emphasised. This brings us to a new panorama that these are not mere lies; they are necessary lies.