5 Myths That Dominate Our Culture

The central thesis of the majority of my writing is that conventional wisdom is not only incorrect, but is damaging to the minds and hearts of people. All too often I observe people who appear to be dancing on the strings of the puppeteer that is our modern culture. We were born as individuals and through our upbringing are led to believe a myriad of false statements and ideologies that we adopt to be the truth. My hope is that through my words I can share a point of view that will allow others to view life for what it truly is, in accordance to what is truly means to them on a personal level. Today I am going to highlight some of the myths that dominate our society.

1. Go to college, get good grades, and everything will be wonderful.

I’ll reiterate that fact that I am not against college per se, but to me it’s astounding that so many young people believe that simply receiving a piece of paper is the golden ticket to everything they’ve ever dreamed of. Sure, if you know precisely which field you want to enter into and college is a necessary prerequisite, i.e. nursing or medicine, then going to college is definitely a good idea, but there’s no point in attending school for the sake of attending. Economically speaking it may not be in your best interests either when you weigh the cost of attending school against the remunerative benefits that it will afford you in the future. I am one of many who believe that college will eventually become obsolete in the long run. With the growing flexibility of the job market, going to school and learning one skill alone may not be enough. Another potential downfall of going to school is that the tediousness of it all can actually turn you off form learning, and once you’re done you won’t have any desire to continually learn and stay current within your field, which can lead to disastrous results. The choice is yours whether or not to attend, I am simply suggesting choosing wisely.

2. We live in a world of scarcity.

There is a misconstrued notion that wealth is only available to few and that there’s simply not enough money in supply for everyone to have their fair share. This could not be further from the truth. Sure, there is definitely an unequal distribution of wealth in this country, but I would challenge you to think deeply as to why that is. Let’s say that the money was actually divided equally and every one of us became multi millionaires — I believe that after a certain amount of time the majority of the money would end up back in the same hands as before. The concentration of resources to those who have expert level knowledge is a recurring theme throughout history. It’s about intelligence, not about money. Money without intelligence is money soon gone. Instead of wishing you had more resources, wish you had more knowledge about how to acquire them.

3. Money doesn’t matter.

This is one of the most pervasive ideas that permeate our culture. I often hear people say that “money isn’t important” or “you don’t need money to be happy,” and there is definitely some truth to that. I do believe however, that the underlying reason people utter these types of phrases are because they are in denial about how the world works. If I asked the majority of Americans if they could use a few extra dollars I’m sure almost all of them would say yes. Money is a common source of conflict that drives apart marriages, and it’s an area that causes many people a great deal of incessant frustration throughout their entire lives. Money isn’t evil; money is simply a tool. A tool that’s wielded by the wrong person can be dangerous, but can also be put to great use by someone with the proper intentions. There are many people who have no aspirations of being rich, and that’s great for them, but I do believe that financial independence should be a goal for every person and for every family. Once money is accumulated to the point where all of your needs are soundly taken care of, then you can simply live your life without the worry of financial strain. That’s the true importance of money.

4. Following your dreams is risky.

Fear dominates our culture. Many people wish to follow a unique path, but are simply too afraid of losing the comfortable and secure life that they believe they have. It is my opinion that the greatest risk of all is the risk of living a bad life . It’s often difficult for people to look at their life from a big picture perspective and realize that they only have one life to live. Often it’s not until people reach the middle and later parts of their lives when they realize that they made have made an incorrect decision by playing it safe. Being alive is risky period. You literally have no guarantee of seeing another day. In the grand scheme of things, with such an infinitely vast universe, nothing that we really do “matters”, so we might as well just say f*ck it and go after the lives we have always dreamed of. The alternative to living the life of your dreams is a life where your waning moments result in you choking on the dust of your regrets.

5. Everything is equally important.

We live in a world of activity, with inboxes full of messages and never ending to-do-lists. We all claim to be so busy with that or that. We treat all of our obligations democratically and spread ourselves thin. The reality is that many of the things we believe are important simply aren’t. Being busy is not something that should be worn as a badge of honor. Busyness is a synonym for ineffectiveness. You have the same 24 hours in a day as the President of the United States, rocket scientists, and leaders of companies with thousands of employees, lets cut the crap right here and now. Focusing on the things that are of true importance and ignoring the rest is a key to getting to where you desire to go. We are frugal with our money, and wouldn’t simply give it away to anyone who asks, but we are too generous with our time and much of it is squandered. Everything does not carry equal weight, and everyone is not worth your time. Figure out what’s important, focus, and go after it.