Shiv Khera in his book "You Can Win" says 60% of the height of the Calgary Towers is below the ground. The success behind tall skyscrapers is their solid foundation. The same holds for men. What distinguishes the Extraordinary men from others is that they do things differently. What then is Objectivism and Why is Philosophy important? Why do you see that despite your very many hours of hard work, you see some individuals around you are always happy while you wallow in your own self pity and self loathing?
To quote Ayn Rand in her Introduction to Objectivism (Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand)
"Without abstract ideas, she says, You would not be able to deal with concrete, particular, real-life problems. You would be in the position of a newborn infant, to whom every object is a unique, unprecedented phenomenon. The difference between his mental state and yours lies in the number of conceptual integrations your mind has performed.
Your only choice, she continues, is whether your principles are true or false, rational or irrational, consistent or contradictory. The only way to know which they are is to integrate your principles.
What integrates them? Philosophy. A philosophic system is an integrated view of existence. As a human being, you have no choice about the fact that you need a philosophy. Your only choice is whether you define your philosophy by a conscious, rational, disciplined process of thought and scrupulously logical deliberation — or let your subconscious accumulate a junk heap of unwarranted conclusions, false generalizations, undefined contradictions, undigested slogans, unidentified wishes, doubts and fears, thrown together by chance, but integrated by your subconscious into a kind of mongrel philosophy and fused into a single, solid weight: self-doubt, like a ball and chain in the place where your mind's wings should have grown".
There are many ways to reach your life goals. A good plan of action would be a great companion only if you know where you need to go to do whatever it is that you need to accomplish. A choice based on a strong rational is a million times better than a blind-folded hope that luck and random actions could somehow take you there. What therefore is the starting point for such a change in to your life is a conscious choice to base your life and your activities on a firm platform of moral and ethical values. From this day forward, make this your choice, to walk the path, howsoever hard the road be, desisting away from the easy shortcuts to money or results or fame or whatever it is that your heart might desire.
Asato ma sadgamaya
Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
Mrtyorma amrtam gamaya
Aum Shanti Shanti Shanti hi
Lead me from the unreal to the real
Lead me from darkness to light
Lead me from death to immortality
May there be peace everywhere
(Brhadaranyaka Upanishad — I.iii.28)
Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
Mrtyorma amrtam gamaya
Aum Shanti Shanti Shanti hi
Lead me from the unreal to the real
Lead me from darkness to light
Lead me from death to immortality
May there be peace everywhere
(Brhadaranyaka Upanishad — I.iii.28)
