Thinkers Incorporated

This, my last post of 2013, will be my fiftieth post here at Thinkers Incorporated. It hasn’t quite been a year since we first began, but it is pretty close to it, and I feel that I have learned a lot since that first post back in January. So here are some of the things which I learned in 2013:

1. Perseverance pays in the long run

When you set a goal or make a commitment, it can be difficult at times to complete it. During those difficult periods, it is important to continue striving for the goal. Doing so stretches you, it grows you, and it is what will ultimately get you to your goal.

I wasn’t always inspired to post each week, but I set that as my goal and have seen it through. I have learned so much about writing, creativity, and commitment through doing it. Writing a post each week has matured me enormously as a writer and thinker, and I am so glad that I chose to do it.

2. Humility and teachability go hand in hand

Throughout the past year, not everything that I have said was one hundred percent well reasoned or well said. Thankfully, people have had the courage to call me out when I am mistaken, and each time they have done so, I have been forced to chose between my ego and an opportunity to learn. I strive to be teachable, but being so requires humility, which isn’t exactly a virtue that I was born with.

However, the times that I was humble and set my ego aside, I learned a lot. I hope that in 2014 I will be even more ready to lay myself aside and to pursue truth in an unbiased manner. I hope to be even more teachable and open in the coming year.

3. You have to do things that don’t feel good

As I have said before, I wasn’t inspired to write every week of the last year. Sometimes I didn’t have any ideas, other times I was ridiculously busy, and still other times I was completely without internet access. In these times, I had to pull myself up by my bootstraps to figure out a way to put out something meaningful.

It didn’t feel good forcing myself to write, but that was a part of persevering. I grew so much because I did, and I now recognize the rarity of inspiration. I no longer let an idea flit through my mind without writing it down because I know I’ll need it on those late nights when nothing is lending itself to my writing.

4. People are less rational than I thought

I used to think that I was supremely logical. I thought I was a Mr. Spock. However, the last year has shown me that I am nothing of the sort.

I also thought that most other people thought things through in a deliberate, calculated way. 2013 has shown me that this is not how most people come about their worldview. Not only that, but some people are completely adverse to reason and do precisely what it dictates not to do.

5. Philosophy needs to be simple enough to be lived

I used to love grandiose philosophy. However, I have realized that such philosophies are nearly impossible to live by. In 2014 I hope to develop a more simple, straight forward, clear cut philosophy so that I no longer find myself wondering what it is that I believe.