Compass & Watch

I read a book sometime ago, and I cannot remember the title of this book. It indicates that in life we need to have a compass and a watch. The compass is to set the direction and destination for us and the watch to reach our destination within a given time. Sounds about right. But my recent discovery has been that our current compass is grossly misaligned. Our compass is what are our dreams, goals, desires and what we wish to achieve. But there seem to be a misalignment with these abovementioned with our value system.

The Greek philosopher Socrates said “Know Thyself”. Do we really know who we are! In my personal assessment we really do not know who we are. Yes, we think we know who we are and what we want but until one examines our core value system we are grossly in misalignment to what we want. Socrates also said “The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living”

“The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living” by Karl W. Palachuk

The hardest thing about examining your life is getting started.

I’m sure you’ve read this quote before: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates said that at his trial for heresy. He was on trial for encouraging his students to challenge the accepted beliefs of the time and think for themselves. The sentence was death but Socrates had the option of suggesting an alternative punishment. He could have chosen life in prison or exile, and would likely have avoided death.

But Socrates believed that these alternatives would rob him of the only thing that made life useful: Examining the world around him and discussing how to make the world a better place. Without his “examined life” there was no point in living. So he suggested that Athens reward him for his service to society. The result, of course, is that they had no alternative and were forced to vote for a punishment of death.

Luckily, we don’t have to choose between an examined life and death. But the sad thing is, most people avoid leading an examined life. It’s not that they don’t have time or make time. They actively avoid examining their lives.

People who do examine their lives, who think about where they’ve been, how they got here, and where they’re going, are much happier people. No one has all the answers. And no one’s life is free from trouble and strife. But those who have some sense of where they belong in the universe also have a context for understanding how all the elements of their life fit together.

If there are two people, one with a map and one without a map, who has the better chance of reaching her destination? The one with the map, of course.

When you set aside time to examine your life,

You get to choose your destination; You get to set the goals;

You get to determine the path; You get to decide how long it will take;

You get to decide whether you’re on the right path or the wrong path.

In other words, you begin to know your self and to take control of your life. You decide who you want to be and begin to become the person you want to be.

Examining your life brings tremendous freedom. You can take control of your life and all you have to do is set aside half an hour a day to get started. “

Karl W. Palachuk captured the essence of this quote from Socrates, my question was what do we examine. I believe we should examine our core values, as that is our main compass. Our values are formed thru traditional education, culture, religion, social networks, society and families. An example would be from young we are told to educate our selves to get a good degree and get a safe and secure job, settle down and start a family. Now someone tells you forget this path and begin on a new path of freedom and achieving whatever your heart desires. You want it and it rings true for you but when you embark on the journey of this new path you encounter challenges and easily you quit, WHY?

Because your present core values and what you wish for or want which is the new value system has a gross misalignment. Your old operating system in your brain does not allow for the new values to take root. You need to upgrade your operating system by challenging your current values. Questioning your beliefs, norms and values as Socrates encouraged his students to challenge the accepted beliefs of that time and think for themselves. This will take place when you encounter challenges on your new journey when you have new dreams and goals that you wish to achieve. As you question and challenge your accepted beliefs and values you start to acquire new thinking (upgraded operating system) and in the process acquire new habits. This formulae was taken from an unknown source:

Old Thinking + Old habits + Short Term Viewpoint = Predictable Consequences

Old Thinking + Old habits + Long Term Viewpoint = Potential Consequences

New Thinking + New Habits + Long Term Viewpoint = New Consequences

When we have old thinking and habits our consequences are always predictable.

When we want change and that is taking a long-term viewpoint and when we approach it with the same old thinking and habits we will only have potential consequences.

But when you approach a long-term viewpoint with new thinking and habits in other words you have questioned and challenged your current accepted beliefs and values, you acquire new thinking and habits and the consequences will definitely be new not potential or predictable.

In conclusion examine you life by constantly questioning and challenging accepted beliefs, values and norms. As Socrates says: “The unexamined life is not worth living.”