The most dangerous trap of the 21st century – Closed Mindedness.
The most dangerous habit young people can form is closed mindedness. You are capable of more than you've been told you are.
If your thoughts influence your actions, shouldn't you make a conscious effort to cultivate the best thoughts?
Most people are clones of the school system.
The moment you are born and you are taught to use your first meaningful words, you are told to go to school, get a job, get married, have kids, retire at 65 or whatever age and wait for your meager retirement money.
Now let me ask you, how much of that journey involved conscious thoughts?
How many decisions were made with full awareness, with a deep understanding of the why behind each choice?
For most people, life happens to them. They live out the expectations society has placed on them.
To live a meaningful life you need to be aware of the choices you make, where those choices are leading you and have a why behind every choice you make.
If You Are Not Conscious, You Are A Programmed Machine
“Everything is created twice, first in the mind and then in reality.” —Robin Sharma
Society is a behavior system. It will condition you to follow a set of beliefs, rules and make choices which we all know the end results are not pretty.
The social fabric is a groundless web of ideas that allows society to operate together.
The government and culture influence the school system. The school system creates resources for students to learn from. The students don't question what they're taught. The students go on to become parents. The parents teach their children what they know and send them to school. The children make friends and conform further to fit in. The children grow up, get jobs, become teachers, become parents, become politicians, and create the knowledge and resources online and offline that influence culture. The parents, students, and children vote. The cycle continues to create the society we live in.
To find yourself, think for yourself. —Socrates
Your mind is programmed at birth to have a definite perspective on life. Limits are imposed on your mind and so you see yourself as not qualified to take on the daring tasks in life which can guarantee your freedom.
- You depend on your parents for shelter and food.
- You depend on your friends about what radical group you should join and career path you should choose.
- You depend on your government for jobs and a purpose for your life.
- You depend on everyone but yourself.
You outsource all your thoughts and ability make well informed decisions to the external.
The Closed Mindedness Of The 21st Century
Closed-mindedness is the inability to see beyond your narrow perspective in any situation.
They are everything that doesn’t align with your vision.
And if you don’t have a vision, how are you going to filter what is important from what is meaningless?
The catalyst for these distractions is you. Your identity.
You were told what to learn, think, and do.
You didn’t question it, but accepted it as law.
So, your mind is narrowed on everything that reinforces that identity and feels threatened by anything that does not.
The eyes are useless when the mind is blind, and that couldn’t be more true. What good is your sight if your mind is closed off to understanding, growth, and the reality of life?
So many people go through life only seeing what’s on the surface, never questioning, never learning, and never opening their minds to the bigger picture. This world is full of lessons, opportunities, and deeper meaning, but you’ll miss it all if you don’t train your mind to truly see. Quality thinking.
Open your mind, challenge what you think you know, and unlock a vision that goes beyond sight. The real magic starts when you see with your mind, not just your eyes.
Every action starts with the mind—the epicenter of your thoughts, beliefs, and actions.
Invest your mind:
- read books
- learn skills
- meditate
- journal
Most people waste their time mindlessly scrolling all day.
If you don't improve your mind, you cannot improve your life. 1 year, 2 years, 3 years and you are still the same.
Clear Thinking Is Equal To Quality Life
You have an average of 6,000 thoughts per day. But how many of those thoughts turn into profitable ideas? Probably a handful—if you’re lucky.
Most creative ideas vanish within minutes if they aren’t captured.
Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Thomas Edison said it best. But that 1% is critical—it’s the spark.
If you don’t capture ideas when they come, you lose it.
- I keep a notebook or app handy at all times.
- I capture my thoughts immediately.
- I review, refine and act on the best ideas.
At this point, I'm obliged to tell you about the launch of my FullStack Creator Bootcamp—A 5-week writing bootcamp built for creators, writers, authors, founders and coaches who want to:
• Clarify their message • Build a magnetic brand • Write content that sells • And launch digital products that print freedom
The best creators aren’t always the most talented—they’re the ones who know how to capture, refine and act on their best ideas.
There are 13 practical ways you can improve the quality of your thoughts. Quality thinking births novel ideas which bring about innovative ideas.
Let's go through four of them in this letter and then we will go deeper into the other 9 in another conversation.
1. Quality Information Produce Quality Thinking
Clear writing is impossible without clear thinking. Clear thinking is impossible without clean inputs.
You wouldn’t expect an athlete to perform well eating junk food.
You shouldn’t expect to perform well as a creator consuming junk information.
People are programmed to exist in the game of life. They wake up, work, consume, sleep, and repeat, never once stopping to question their thoughts, actions, or beliefs. They have zero conscious thought.
You can interact with them, but they remain the same. They never level up.
Ask them a question and they'll spew all the jumbled up trash they've consumed from the mainstream media. They're thoughts are not their own.
What separates those who level up in the game from those who are stuck at beginner level? Information.
Information brings awareness. And quality information brings awareness of opportunity. You become conscious of the problems in your life and begin to solve those problems to level you up in the game.
Humans fill their day with information that construct their reality in the vast space of the Universe.
2. First-Principles Thinking
If you don't know what to do, seek clarity.
You don’t have a procrastination problem.
You have a clarity problem.
“Your worst enemy is your own mind when you have too much free time. Idle minds can be troublemakers!”
When you don’t know exactly what to do with all the information you have, your brain creates reasons to avoid doing what you need to do:
- “It’s too much work.”
- “I’ll never get it perfect.”
- “Maybe tomorrow I’ll feel more ready.”
This is where people get stuck. The more you sit in indecision, the more the task seems insurmountable.
So, how do you break out of this loop?
I like the First Principle thinking approach to problem solving. Work back to the problem. Start by breaking your big task into smaller, actionable steps.
Iterate this process:
- Outline for your goals.
- Brainstorm three ideas.
- Write one achievable task.
- Execute that idea relentlessly.
- Improve with feedback the loop.
Repeat.
Each small win builds momentum.
And momentum builds clarity.
Action creates clarity.
Clarity destroys procrastination.
The progress you’re looking for is on the other side of action.
3. Goal-Setting
Right after birth, just when you learn to use your first words, society begins conditioning you to work towards the default path.
- Go to school,
- Get good grades,
- Get a decent job,
- Retire at 60 when you don't have much time left to enjoy the resources in your retirement.
If you are not conscious, you'll struggle all your life to survive these goals.
Without a conscious goal, you will pursue one that makes survival seem easy and comfortable, leading to expectations that don't align with reality.
Without a conscious system, you will adopt the habits, beliefs, and opinions of those around you and utilize them to reinforce your unconscious path in life. Without making the problems that arise conscious, you will adopt a victim mentality, reject your ability to change who you are, and have your attention manhandled by other people's goals.
Without questioning your path in life, the safe and secure route that is marketed to you at birth and beyond will become the default option. Do you see how the routine you keep everyday is keeping you away from what you really want to do?
What if this lifestyle is a distraction from your true purpose?
"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." —Maya Angelou
You need self generated goals.
Set a 10 year goal. Break it down into stages and work it back.
What you want in 10 years, 5 years, 1 year, 6 months, weeks, days to achieve those goals.
If you have no idea what to pursue — your life’s work, your purpose, your passions — you must start experimenting.
Ask yourself questions.
7 years ago I was fed up with the progress I was making, I asked myself one question, "How can I make my life better?"
The answer came when I wasn't looking.
I spent 6 months to learn high Value Skills.
Today we are helping a lot of people gain practical skills to land high paying jobs or even start their own businesses.
In one year, you can:
- master a specific skill.
- build productive habits.
- broaden your knowledge base.
- improve your overall quality of life.
- earn your first dollar on the internet.
- connect with like-minded individuals.
- gain clear insight into your vision and goals.
- create thousands of different opportunities.
Life is about experimentation.
Learning what you like and don’t like.
Seeing what works and what doesn’t. Slowly making small upgrades in the traits, skills, and wisdom that your character holds.
4. Make Hard Decisions
We live in a delusion that we want to make progress without it been hard.
You need to stop living in the delusion that you are so different from everyone else that other people don't make sacrifices to achieve their goals and that you won't have to either.
Most people want to grow.
But they don’t want it to be hard.
- They want success without sacrifice.
- Progress without discomfort.
- Results without risk.
This is a delusion.
Every lasting achievement requires pain, sacrifice, and hard decisions.
- If you want financial freedom, you have to start a business.
- If you want a great body, you have to commit to disciplined training.
- If you want a strong mind, you have to read quality books.
There is no easy path. The only difference is whether you accept this reality now or let life force you to face it later.
Hard Decisions Create Easy Life
Most people stay in beginner mode because they avoid making hard choices.
- They stay in the job that drains them of energy, good health and quality time with family.
- They put off starting the business they dream of.
- They wait for the "perfect time" that never comes.
Successful people make the hard decisions early. They fail fast.
They embrace the struggle and move forward while everyone else hesitates.
Your growth is on the other side of discomfort.
The Talking Mind
Here's a typical conversation you have with your mind on a busy day:
"I should have done this" or about the future "What will happen if?!"
It is always a thought that interrupts your happiness! Not anyone else, but a thought.
Where does this thought come from? The thought that takes away your peace of mind. Obviously, you didn't think it. Why would you take away your happiness on purpose? It makes no sense! From where did this thought come? More importantly, who is the thinker?
Why Didn't I Start Earlier?
The past can't be changed. There is no better
time to start than now. I am going to treat each day as the last and make the most out of it.
Success comes with a lot of making hard decisions, otherwise everyone would have it. Everyone has different journeys and problems,
comparing is only a waste of time.
Firm Belief, Held Loosely
It's okay to change your mind when you are presented with accurate information and innovative ways of doing things.
Be confident when doing it, and humble when you have done it.
Write with impact, but be open to changing your mind when somebody presents you with a better perspective in the replies.
Have firm beliefs held loosely.
I'm going to throw at you some mindset shift you can cultivate to improve your thinking and improve your results in life.
Study For Patterns In Reality
There are more things likely to frighten us than there are to crush us.
We suffer more often in imagination than in reality. —Seneca
We cross our bridge of worries many a times in our minds before we even come across it. And often, this bridge doesn't even exist in reality.
Don't Suffer Unduly
What I advise you to do is, not to be unhappy before crisis comes; since it may be that the dangers before which you paled as if they were threatening you, will never come upon you. Don't suffer unduly in your mind even before the event. The event might not happen.
Live In The Here And Now
"It is likely that some troubles will befall us. And even though it is ordained to be, what does it avail to run out to meet your suffering?" —Seneca, Letters from a Stoic
Troubles, if they are meant to come, will come soon enough. But why prolong them by living them even before they arrive?
Problems, in reality, have limits. Problems, in our minds, have no limits.
Stop Worrying And Start Acting
If there exists no solution to your fears, what good will worrying do? If there exists a solution to your fears, what good will worrying do. In the latter case, stop worrying and start acting instead.
Maybe I'm rumbling too much and this is getting very long.
I will end here and talk to you in the next letter.
One thing I have noticed about consistency is that it helps you get result:
- Doing more make sure you get the bad stuff out fast.
- The hard stuff becomes easy.
- You can double down on what works best.
I tried imitating some of the best creators and have discovered what really works for me.
I have found a sweet spot on writing on Weekends and sending these Letters on Wednesdays. Henceforth I'm going to be sending them out on Wednesdays instead of Saturdays.
Thanks for reading.
-Patrick