President-elect Trump not only follows the timing, he makes it too. Exactly how much of each is difficult to say. The sadly failed Biden presidency was an invitation to change, the dangerous increase in world debt, a spur to create more wealth and the technological revolution incorporating AI and quantum computing, the final straw on maintaining ethical standards..
We live in the world we have or we migrate to a mountain top cave. Personally, I’m for sticking around as long as my body can hang together. So is Mark Zuckerberg. Well, he would be, wouldn’t he. That’s why he said what many are thinking “Having a culture that celebrates the aggression a bit more has its own merits that are really positive”.
I don’t like it but I’m not for letting it beat the hell out of me. Or you.
The good news is that even tough living is amenable to moral behavior, just perhaps not quite as delicately moral as we’d like. So we must devise an aggressive, clever, moral standard that competes and stays within most of the bounds of decency. It can be done. It will be done. We shall call it MAC – Moral, Aggressive, Clever. Our slogan for it will be “When the rain dumps on you, go MAC. It’s got you covered.”
So what are the terms and conditions of MAC? First is clarity about what is and what is not an issue. Because if everything is an issue, nothing is an issue. That’s why so many people appear to be becoming mentally dysfunctional. Trying to cope with everything as though it is vital, means nothing is vital, so you might as well give up. Several people are suffering from this disease if those coming to us for help are a representative measure of it.
Next, study your risk aversion. Over matters of future life importance do you take risks? If not, why? You cheerfully drive the car, cross the road, mix in crowds, eat at unknown restaurants. All of those expose you to risk of accident and sickness which could even be fatal. Yet you take the risk for a transient pleasure or achievement. No life plan ever worked without risk. But you expect your future life to be risk free.
Who are you kidding? Get real. Get riskable.
Now sort the sheep risks from the goat risks. The latter are the ones with long horns. Weight them but don’t reject them. They are the big payoffs when they work. Get help to assess them – doing so is not an admission of weakness, it is a statement of courage. The decisions remain yours; the analysis can be ‘well shared’. Millions have forgotten how to do that. Only one person suffers if you don’t do it. You.
Prime yourself for the risk you are about to take. Prepare yourself to be calm, steady, outwardly unemotional, regardless of how emotional you actually feel, and become absolutely determined. Adopt the motto of the Special Air Service: “Who dares, wins”. Achievers go for gold. They are ABD – Absolutely B****y Determined. No need to say it. Vital to think it.
Want to make a terrific impression when you go through this? Then remain icy cool. Nothing is more withering than an opponent who is calmer than you. Think of the shivers up and down your opponent’s spine. Rejoice in the agonising pain your placid demeanour is imposing. You are not just winning, you are defeating.
But oh, so nicely.
Go MAC, my friend. You’ll never regret it.
Good morning
John Bittleston
Can you MAC? Please do tell us at [email protected]
16 January 2025
