Truth and Disappointment

I have come to realize that its not that talkers want to lie most of the times, its mostly that the listeners don’t want to hear the truth. Makes it convenient for the talkers. This is because truth is mostly disappointing. I have come to this conclusion after reading as much as I can till now, listening to a lot of smart people speak and ofcourse thinking through this multiple times.

To explain further let me give examples based on people from different aspects of life that I admire

Successful Business People

People who run successful businesses will say,

• Work hard and in time learn to work smart and that gives you an advantage
• Out work and out smart your competition
• Timing of your business is very important, but more so is execution

Successful Investors

• Take rational decisions when others are being emotional and stupid
• Calculate probabilities and avoid biases
• As important as it is to calculate what will happen when we take a decision, equally important is to calculate what will happen if we don’t

Successful Scientists and Academic People

• Take one step at a time but keep the bigger picture in mind
• Surround yourself with people who challenge you and are equally smart or better

We mostly call BS on all that’s said above because they seem like common sense, very simple and almost doable by anyone. In addition to this, people want to hear “how to do something” rather than figuring out themselves which is the meat, actually.

There are many such people who have the same things to say which is IMO the truth. It is ones expectation that disappoints him/her when they hear the truth. People expect trick and tips and short-cuts and magic formulae, etc that do not exist, FORTUNATELY! Phew…