“Who is there to tell you what to do? We have this mentality that I must have someone to tell me what to do. Psychologically, why should I accept what somebody else says, when I realize that I am the rest of mankind? That mankind is me. The ‘me’ is the history of mankind, the book of mankind. If I know how to read it, I don’t depend on anybody.”
— J. Krishnamurti
This weekend, look up three people you admire. Deep dive into their lives. Speak to them if you can; otherwise, research them, and find out:
How many times did they seek others’ opinions instead of trusting themselves? How many times did they tread on paths others walked on instead of charting their own course? And how much of a difference did they make, in others’ lives and their own?
I’m betting you will find that their self-belief guided their actions, and gave them the courage to not just accept the outcomes but also learn from them. Such learning is what shapes the mystical gut.
The rest of us can have a strong gut too, but we don’t. Because we’re always asking others for advice—when it comes to our careers, our relationships, or creating wealth. But what people tell us is either not true (because it’s what they heard, not what they experienced), or it held true 10 years ago. The world has moved forward since then. What will you get by listening to them and moving backward?
If you want to read the “book of mankind” (which is but your own soul), if you want to wake up the giant inside you, then take up an idea, work on it without the fear, and learn from the results. This is how you form a gut that ends up right in most cases.
Happiness and fulfillment are inversely proportional to how much you seek advice from others. How do you think MS Dhoni would have turned out if he had had heeded the advice of sticking to a government job?