The first thing is awareness and identification of the habit you want to change. Then stop the behavior, stop engaging with it, the change of the behavior must be gradual and not abrupt. Stop one small thing in the process of the behavior today and add in eliminating another small thing tomorrow. The changes will add up and compound over time. The big thing must be on altering the habit. Realize that you are not your thoughts. Thoughts are just things that happen to you, you are awareness witnessing your thoughts. You can distance yourself from your thoughts, you can just watch them float in and out of your head and not accept of criticize them. Meditation will help you with the process of observing your thoughts, it will help you to be more mindful. Meditation is important in regulating your mental health. When engagement has been halted, don’t do anything for a while, it is better to be passive for a couple of weeks or months. After this recess you can engage in other routines and start new habits and behavior.
Another way to change your mind is to feed it and overload it with new content. Travel is also one way to change your mind because it exposes you to different cultures and people. A place that exists that doesn’t draw any input for you. That helps you see things differently, it can alter your whole world.
Everyone thinks they’re right and in the process we lose our humanity and further surpress our mortality. We forget to love one another and act justly. Even Adolf Hitler thought he was right and he thought that he was going to live forever. He justified the atrocities that transpired in the 20th century to God. He vilified the Jews so much and propagated hate that everything he said made sense. He got supporters. The world fell under his hypnotic frame and genocide became accepted. It’s the same thing with white supremist groups like the KKK and slavery, everyone thinks they’re right and it also makes sense too. In elevating our status we demean the statuses of others and come to see them as weak, we believe we are superior, better, chosen and that we are going to live forever. The hate becomes our refuge and it protects us from the injustices of the world namely that life is suffering and there is no apparent reason for this suffering, so we commit more suffering since that creates some sort of meaning and justifies our existence. The thought that perhaps God doesn’t care about us is unbearable but we entertain it since if God doesn’t exist then all is permitted. Everyone thinks they’re right and there’s always a feedback loop that justifies their findings. Kaffers are dangerous and apartheid fair, while the negro is genetically built to serve his master, the white slaver. Jews are corrupt to the core and spread this plague like a virus throughout the world. Everyone thinks they’re are right and God is always on their side. I learned it’s not important to be right, in fact I don’t want to be right. I’d much rather be wrong and make my way up, as long as there’s breath in my lungs I have a chance to be less wrong. I want to be a good man and have love in my heart. My time is limited and so I meditate on that so I can practice my humanity and make the world a bit better than I found it. My mortality haunts me but it motivates me to be kind, loving and a good person. I don’t want to be right, I want to be just.
Warren Buffet was asked the secrets to success in an interview and his answer was that you needed to be able to express and articulate yourself verbally and on paper (written). He cited a certificate he got from completing a course on public speaking from Dale Carnegie as his best and this is a man who has masters and degrees in the field of business from the best Universities in the world. The Dale Carnegie certificate is even on display at his office, the degrees aren’t. Buffet continued that anyone who doesn’t have this skill is behind 50-70 years. Learning how to express yourself improves your value by 50-60%. I agree with him, I think it’s the number 1 secret/skill for success, one that has worked for me immensely in my engagements with the world.
The second secret to success is reading a lot of books. Reading expands your horizons and exposes you to world’s you didn’t know existed. Reading gives you different perspectives. Reading teaches and educates. It gives you a person’s whole life and research in a couple of pages. Reading improves and adds to your vocabulary which helps your speaking capabilities. Reading helps you command the English language and makes people think you are smarter than you are and that attracts success. Reading is by far the Champion of the world. You can’t not read and be successful.
The last is your friends. You have to have the right friends because you will sway in the direction of your 5 closest friends. Birds of the same feathers flock together. To be successful, you need successful friends. You need friends who are better than you, this will enable you to grow and progress.
This has to be one of my favorite movies of all time. It is typical Disney at their very best. It has magic, choreographed dancing and singing and of course Moana is an archetype of the hero like Simba on the other Disney movie “The Lion King” . The animation is excellent and the ideas and concepts are inspired. The movie is inspirational and beaming with imagination and originality. The movie is so intelligent and draws its inspiration from mythology centering on Gods. The movies theme centers around self-realization and the premise of following the voice inside. It is Nietzsche’s become who you are. It is the hero navigating chaos to restore order in the world. The movie is about the individuation process, the premise of staying true to yourself. Urban poet Kanye West once posed a rhetorical, he stated “Would you believe in what you believed in, even though you were the only person who believed it? “. We find out the answer to this question in this movie as Moana, nicknamed the “Chosen one” has to save the world by restoring the “Heart of Te Fiti”. In the beginning there was only the ocean until the mother Island emerged, Te Fiti. Her heart had the power to create life and she shared it with the world, she created Islands and multiplied life. Until one day a daring Demi-god known as Maui, a shape shifter who could change form stole the “Heart of Te Fiti” to give to the mortals so that they can have the power of creation. His expedition didn’t go as he planned as he encounters a foe that makes him lose the heart and in the process banishing him to an Island for thousands of years. With the heart now lost to “Te Fiti”, she rages on becomes the Goddess of destruction, “Te Kar” unleashing monsters to kill off life. Moanas Island experiences this destruction as all the coconuts rot and the fish die. As the Chief of her people and the “chosen one” specifically elected by the ocean to restore the heart of “Te Fiti” one day, she must save her people and the world. To do this, she needs the help of Maui, Demi-god of wind and sea, the entity who started all of this.
“Te Fiti” is mothernature, the nurthurer and the life bearer. She represents life, senerity and order. After her heart is stolen from her she becomes “Te Kar”, the Goddess of destruction. She represents death and chaos. Maui is a Demi-god, who was abandoned and thrown in the ocean by his mortal parents when he was born. Luckily, he was found by the God’s who made him a Demigod and gave him a fish hook that enabled him to change form. He became a hero for the mortals by stealing fire from the gods and giving it to them, he created coconut trees and pulled Islands from the ocean. He stole the heart of “Te Fiti” in order to give the mortals the power of creation, of life, everything Maui does, he does to please the mortals. Moana is a young girl who will one day be the chief of her people. She is the descendent of voyagers and her father tries to surpress this because of his dealings with the ocean. When he was young, he ventured into the ocean with his friend and catastrophe happened and he wasn’t able to save his friend. The incident changed how he views the world and he is the figure who dissuades Moana from ever leaving the Island. He advices her that the Island is all she will ever need. His father represents the tyrannical father, he represents the predictable, he represents explored territory, he is musculinity, he is order. Moana is the direct opposite from her father. She is a venturer, she explores the unknown, she is bravehearted and spirited, she is open minded, she represents feminity, she represents chaos. As a young child, a toddler, the ocean chooses her as someone who will someday restore the heart of “Te Fiti” and restore the balance in the world. Her father’s teachings prohibit her to be who she truly is and this struggle is one day broken when she learns about her heritage and is forced to choose. She chooses to venture out into the unknown and the movie follows her on her journey of self-realization.
The story of Moana teaches the importance of self-knowledge and self-attainment. It teaches the audience the importance of paying attention, it teaches the importance of self-awareness and the role it plays in enabling you to be the truest version of yourself. It teaches goal-attainnent and delaying gratification in the pursuit of your dreams. The story of Moana teaches the audience how to live a meaning life. This is important because meaning makes life worthwhile. We are goal oriented beings who are always in pursuit of something better and meaning gives us a target to strive for. The life of the hero is the only way to live because it consistently makes us better. It forces us to learn from our mistakes so we can grow. It makes us see the value of the people in our lives. Nietzsche has this to say on his classic “Thus spoke Zarathustra”: Alas, I have known noble men who lost their highest hope and henceforth they slandered all high hopes. Henceforth, they lived imprudently in brief pleasures, and they had hardly any aim beyond the day. Once they thought of becoming heroes: now they are sensualists. The hero is to them an affliction and terror. Do not reject the hero in your soul! Keep holy your highest hope.” When you lack meaning in your life, you are in danger of being swept up by novelties because you lack a campus and roots to keep you on the ground. Jose Ortega had this to say:” Adventure shatters the oppressive, insistent reality as if it were a piece of glass. Each adventure is a new birth of the world, a unique process.” Goethe continues: “Everyone holds his future in his hands, like a sculptor the raw material he will fashion into a figure.” The life of the hero gives you control of your life, your decisions, your destiny. Ultimately, it’s the only way to live. So like Moana, go explore like a voyager because only you can restore the heart of “Te Fiti”, you are the chosen one, the hero!
Yes I am still here, fly as ever! Life is a bitch ain’t it? The girls who used to be fly are now disasters, I am shocked, it’s like time staled up their will to live. Ambitions and dreams cremated and contained in an urn. All they have is images of who they used to be. All I see is single mothers, they reek of desperation and no future prospects. It was good when you were whoring around, now karmas got you by the clit. Stupid with men fleeing, 30 ain’t a joke. The girls who used to be just meh are ripping it up, winning like a fix, hot as mercury and dolled up for success. I guess we all get our time to shine. Yes I am still here, fly as ever, so amazing like coitus in winter. All I get is prepositions from girls who used to have it. Lol, what I need you for? You ain’t hot like me. Levels babygirl levels, I am way too good for you. I keep on getting better and better while you in free fall, you’ll only drag me down. Shit, I deserve somebody as fly as me. Someone with quality, I don’t want no average bitch. Time is up, you failed to see the bigger picture, now younger and tighter pussy is taking you out the game. You ain’t good enough for me. You really think I’m looking forward to being a stepfather of three? Bitch please, I ain’t doing that. But I’ll fuck you when the kids are asleep, I can compromise on that. I ain’t taking you and your kids to the Zoo, I have bigger plans. Your baby daddy fled, why would I stay? My condolences, I wish you still had it, then maybe you’d have a chance with the great man. Yes, I am still here, winning as ever, amazing as usual, on God mode like the tribal chief. I have too much quality, I am way too good for you.
Changing people’s minds is difficult. This is because people don’t like being told what to do. We also have biases that make us believe that we are right and everybody is wrong. There’s also the fact that we are all narcissists, hence the success of social media. We tend to believe that the world revolves around us and we internalize information that corresponds with this viewpoint. We believe we are God’s and can predict and forecast the future when that’s false, no one really knows anything, no one has the answers and no one can forecast the future.
Reverse psychology is one way to do it. Another way is hypnosis, programming and unfair, unjustified passive aggressive comments that make you go “What?”, these work because they go into your subconscious mind. Another way to change people’s minds is propaganda. We witnessed an example of this with Germany and the Nazis. Children were brainwashed from the infancy. Everywhere in Germany was this one viewpoint that was spread across different platforms and mediums like movies, posters, radios, music, billboards etc. Propaganda works because repetition is the father of learning.
Propaganda tends to have a negative connotation and it’s warranted, we saw what happened in the 20th century with Nazi Germany. What transpired was just pure evil, but it’s not just with Nazi Germany. Propaganda is everywhere. We see this with the depiction of Africa by the West. And how is Jesus Christ white again?
Propaganda is everywhere, we see it on our money with Nelson Mandela, he is always there, looking at you, smiling. Sandton City has a place called “Nelson Mandela Square” and it is a place designated for Mandela. It has art, it has statues, it has stores that sell Mandela gold coins, it has stores that sell the type of clothes he wore, it is Mandela heaven. Because Sandton is my home, I see Nelson Mandela every day. I believe his propaganda, I believe that he was a great man. I am surrounded by proof. Yes, I concede Nelson Mandela was a great man, easily one of the greatest men who ever lived. The propaganda makes him better than the “Greatest”. He has malls named after him, streets, hospitals, bridges and just about anything you can think of. The “Mandela” brand is a great brand and it is because of this propaganda.
Essentially what propaganda is, is Marketing and PR. It is showing only one side of the story in the best possible light repeatedly. It is biased and one sided. We see this with the advertising industry. Everyone is always smiling on Billboards and on ads and that KFC burger isn’t that great in real life. Propaganda is flattery and deception, it is what we humans do best. Social media has allowed us to propagate propaganda for our personal brands. We can take pictures and filter them to be perfect and then share with the whole world. We have more power than ever!
Conforming has its advantages for example if you are starting an online community, you have to understand the ecosystem and adapt to make it your own. You have to understand what works and what doesn’t to create a framework and structure for your newly formed community. When you have a structure and framework you can slowly add what’s different about you. Being different from the get go is not wise because you can get shunned and ignored, that’s not good for creating a self-sustaining brand. Different doesn’t necessarily mean good. You have to conform to a certain point because to conform entails to be emphatic and empathy makes you relateble and likeable. To conform is to understand and to be compassionate because you can mirror people’s mannerisms, tastes and conducts.
A perfect example of conforming to be different is with the Apple 2. When it was released it was just like a lot of computers in a lot of ways. It could run on any operating system, it could be modified to the users tastes and had multiple USB ports. Steve Jobs later changed everything about the Apple 2 with later products to reflect what Apple stood for, to be different, to have a rebellious spirit and to have taste. Apple needed to stand out from the rest of the market and set the benchmark. He closed off everything so Apple could run on its own operating system and reduced the multiple USB ports to just two ports for the modem and printer. The decision to close off Apple was the difference maker and is the reason Apple is the most valuable company in the world. Apple of course is vertically integrated today owning and controlling everything from operating systems to distribution. But they had to conform first. Not conforming makes you different and can provide an edge to inspire innovation that can make you successful, however it’s not always guaranteed. You need to be flexible enough to know how to fit in and then go out.
Warren Buffet is a perfect example of this. He lives far away from Wall Street to avoid the noise and clutter. He doesn’t follow the news. He is sheltered in Omaha. However when it suits him and his business interests, he can be attuned in and make decisions everyone else can’t see because of his different perspective. As opposed to news and loud untrustworthy bulletins, he has trusted sources from within Wall Street, that gives him the advantage. You conform to understand and then make your own way.
I want to explore a case study. In 2014, Brazil played host for the World Cup semi-finals against Germany. They were hot favorites to win the tournament. In this game more than 60 000 Brazilians filled the Belo Horizonte stadium. They (Brazil) were missing their key players like captain Thiago Silva and their golden boy Neymar Jr, through suspension and injury. Even with that, the concensus was still Brazil. When they sang their national anthem the whole stadium reverberated. They sang with a lot of zeal, passion and enthusiasm. It was inspiring and special. Some players even cried, they were playing for all of Brazil. The Germans on the other hand didn’t show any of this zeal. It was just another game for them and an opportunity to get to the finals. They were merely focused, relaxed and professional. They didn’t show the same energy Brazil showed. They didn’t overwhelm themselves, they didn’t show unnecessary emotions.
Brazil started the game like a house on fire. Attacking the Germans with everything they had with the crowd cheering and applauding them. It was peculiar, even David Luis, the spine of the defense for the Brazilian team was in offensive positions. Germany kept their shape and structure for the first 10 minutes of the game, getting the feel of the game. 15 minutes later the scoreline was 5-0 in favor of Germany and the Brazilians fans were in shock, crying. Germany had won the game in less than 30 minutes. At half-time Germany subbed of their best defender in Mats Hummels, they saved him for the final and he was too strong for Brazil in any case. At this rate Brazil would never score. Germany did the humanitarian thing and subbed him off. The game finished 7-1 in favor of the Germans, the biggest win by margin in the history of the World Cup tournament in the semi-final stage.
Moral of the story? Don’t just throw the sink at your opponent, don’t be emotional, don’t be expedient, plan, have structure and shape. A fast start doesn’t mean anything if you don’t win.
When I think of the word resilience, Nelson Mandela and his freedom fighters come to mind. They fought so hard against the “impossible” and they won. They achieved this feat because they cared more. It wasn’t easy too, 27 years in prison is an eternity. That is more than 10 000 days in prison – mastery!
Consider Nelson Mandela’s life for a moment. He and the other freedom fighters were banished to an Island were they would serve life for treason. They worked in labor camps all day every day, turning big rocks to small rocks. They were harassed, disrespected, abused and made to feel inferior throughout. They were treated like animals and not shown any humanity. The food was cold, rationed and not fit for a dog. The cells were cold and solitary confinement was a part of life because they were so vocal about their rights. Life carried on without them, family members died and they couldn’t attend funerals. They spent the best years of their lives, their youth, confined in a cell like animals. They couldn’t even communicate with the outside world because the letters were heavily censored. No newspapers to inform them of current events of the country and the world, all they knew were the four corners of Robben Island. There’s also the case that all of this could have been in vain. What if the people they were fighting for forgot. What If the unjust oppressive system of Apartheid won in suppressing peoples spirits and oppression was the norm? What if there was nothing that could be done?
Nelson Mandela and the other freedom fighters, endured a lot of suffering. They lost so much. It’s so easy to be hateful and angry but he Nelson Mandela preached peace and making the country a better place to live in when he was released. The future was all that mattered and creating one with equal opportunity and no oppressive legislature for people of color was paramount. He was driven by a new vision for South Africa, it defined him. He gave everything to his people. What a leader, what a great man. Nelson Mandela embodies what it is to be resilient. The action of getting up and fighting, even after a thorough beat down. He stands for doing what’s right and never giving up until the very end. He stands for victory under the most difficult circumstances. He is integrity, resolve, determination, resilience and greatness.
Thank you for everything Tata, this is dedicated to the freedom fighters who gave up their lives and freedom so I can be free.
antakalipa 