Zero Dean's Blog, page 43

Don’t do what you don’t approve of

It often starts with rightly standing up against something you don’t approve of. But if you’re not careful, you begin to take on behaviors of your opponents and act in ways that you originally disapproved of.

Diminishing the effectiveness of negativity Always be the best version of yourself

The post Don’t do what you don’t approve of appeared first on Lessons Learned from The Path Less Traveled.

Hate in a nutshell

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“I wish it was cooler,” you say as you add fuel to the fire.

Hate in a nutshell.

The post Hate in a nutshell appeared first on Lessons Learned from The Path Less Traveled.

Refuse to be blind

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Refuse to be blind to the impact your insults, hateful remarks, and derogatory statements intended to hurt those you oppose are having on the world. Every time you justify acting badly because someone else is acting badly, you are giving permission to other people to do the same.

You’re not making the world a better place by adding hate, you’re just making the world a hateful place.

If you want more [ kindness – love – level-headedness – logic – tolerance – understanding – respec...

It must be ok.

You saw someone standing up for something you believe in. And you didn’t like how they did it, but you saw other people cheer. So it must be OK.

So one day, while standing up for something you believe in, you go against your values by acting badly when you do it. But as badly as you act, those who agree with you still cheer. So it must be OK.

And while you were basking in the glow of being approved of by people willing to overlook your bad behavior because they agree with your message,...

The messenger matters

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If the person representing your opinion or desired way of life is exhibiting signs of bad behavior when they do it, you can be certain that the majority of people the message is intended for will focus on the bad behavior and ignore the message.

You can cheer on the champions of your cause all you want, but if they’re not setting a good example when they represent your ideas, they’re doing more to ensure that your cause or organization will be perceived badly than they are in cha...

More hate is not the answer

Just a reminder that some of the people you encounter online trying to tell you what’s wrong with your opinion or the way you live your life are the same people who piss on toilet seats.

Not everyone you connect with is working with the same level of awareness or maturity or mindset. And certainly, no two people are working from the same set of life experiences.

Some people you encounter online seem to have such high standards that it would be nearly impossible to meet them, and yet their ow...

Dealing with disinformation: Think before you act or react

The amount of disinformation that is going to be spread between now and the next election is going to be unlike anything ever seen or experienced before. And it’s already starting.

It is going to be used to get people to react emotionally. It is going to be used to divide people. It is going to be used to cause confusion. And distrust. And fear. And some of it will be used to incite violence. And some of it will lead to people’s deaths. Possibly many.

And we are by no means prepa...

My first one star review (and a lesson on criticism)

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If you’ve read Lessons Learned from The Path Less Traveled, you’ll know there’s a whole chapter devoted to dealing with criticism. It’s impossible to get through life without doing or creating something that gets criticized. That’s life. Some of the feedback you receive on your journey will be fair & given with good intentions. And some of it won’t be. That’s life, too. You can’t control what people do, but you can control how you respond t...

Everyone wants a better future except…

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Everyone wants a better future except for anyone who stands to lose something if things change. And so those who profit from the status quo will do everything in their power to resist progress and keep things as they are. This includes spending vast amounts of money to convince people that the progress they seek is impossible. Or if it is possible, it’s undesirable for some reason. Neither of which is true.

The fact is, these people & companies are only looking out for their own se...

Thank you.

If you go out of your way to be friendly and nice to people, for no reason other than it just feels good or like the right thing to do, THANK YOU.

Even if (and when) it means people don’t always see or appreciate it, THANK YOU.

Even if your desire to help others or make them more comfortable sometimes gets you into trouble, THANK YOU.

Even if what you did was “no trouble” or “the easiest thing to do” or “any decent human being would have done it”, TH...