One of the reasons I have mentioned to start this project is a much needed positive voice. And I truly mean this. As the years go by your take on life changes slowly with every decade. From being guided as a kid you transition into an independent person during the teenage years. During your 20’s you break free from home, make you own money and party like there is no tomorrow. Just before my 30’s I became a father and the main focus shifted to work and building up life.
What’s important?
Now I’m slowly reaching my 50’s and I’ve had my share of what life throws at you. You learn from it and time heals all wounds. I see it as a massive puzzle to understand the bigger picture. When you are young you dream of more, bigger and better. Over time you realise that in the long run it doesn’t make you happy, it only makes your life more comfortable. So what’s important now?
I’ve always been very active online and noticed the amount of harsh or rude comments. This is one thing I never understood. Why do people feel the need to behave like this? It seems anonymity brings out the worst in people. As the years pass by it only seems to be getting worse or I simply get more triggered by it. The total lack of nuance and decency doesn’t make the world a better place. Being well mannered doesn’t cost anything, is easy and it makes life more enjoyable imho.
Kindness is the greatest wisdom
We choose to share a positive voice in our expressions. Why? Simply because we can! The world needs more positivity to become a better place. I believe that the act of kindness is the greatest wisdom. Does that mean that I like everything? No of course not. There are plenty of things that I don’t like but the world would be a boring place if we all were alike.
Our differences are what makes life so interesting as you can learn and benefit from it yourself. I’ve had the opportunity to travel a lot and it gave me the possibility to meet many interesting people from various backgrounds. From chauffeurs to CEO’s, celebrities and everyone in-between. Pretty much everyone was open for an interesting conversation. It’s amazing what showing interest in a person and kindness does to people.
“If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re mis-informed.”
This is a famous quote and sadly many people have opinions based on lack of knowledge or because of group-thinking. Being un- or misinformed is a choice. Questioning everything using the 5W’s and 1H framework (what, why, when, where, who, and how) would be a great start. Nothing is as powerful as words and the art of repetition.
Opinions are easily influenced by writing stories and information in a selective way. I’ve learned about journalism from the inside. In my case it was a platform that got successful to the point were investors were the lookout. From there on it’s all about the money aka return on investment. Goals are set and if the numbers don’t show growth the content gets adjusted to achieve increasing traffic accordingly. Over time you learn about every trick in the book of online engagement.
Respect being different
Personally I don’t believe in forcing people to like something. Often you see people telling others to speak out on a certain topic. The ‘if you’re not for it, you’re against it’ mentality. As if any problem can be broken down to a simple yes or no answer without any nuance. It’s proven that the more an opinion is being pushed, the more resistance there will be. How to achieve behavioural change and minimise resistance is well documented.
Instead of forcing someone to change their mind I believe in explaining things to gain understanding by using parts of the 5W’s and 1H framework. A totally different approach from most. You can only hope that it helps and that people learn to respect being different or even embrace things.
If you don’t try it’ll never happen
What’s most important is that if you don’t try, it’ll never happen. Anyone can make a positive change by taking small or big steps. It’s a choice you can only make yourself. I simply ignore the things in life that I don’t like and end discussions with people who are rude or ignore what’s being said. I focus on spreading positivity instead. Time is precious and I’m not wasting it on those who don’t deserve it. If only more people would do that.
Hugo
