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The biggest lie that you believed for most of your life?

d0m

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That's ironic coming from a junior high math teacher. Unpopular opinion... I hate most of the school teachers I have added on FB and some of the ones I had growing up. Most of the ones I know always blame someone else for their life problems and complain about how much money they don't make. I always think to myself, "Why'd you get a degree in Pre-K Education if all you're gonna do is complain about making 45k/year with health insurance, retirement, and summers/weekends off?"

The answer to that is the biggest lie I believed for most of my life...

Follow your passion.

Very well said. I've also come to hate every teacher I had other than my physics and english teachers. Both are honest/amazing people and outstanding teachers.
 
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mrarcher

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"That's a stupid/crazy idea"
"Things like that aren't for people like us"
 

Andy Black

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No one particular lie that I can pinpoint, but whatever it is that has parents believe the best they can do for their kids is to put them through the grinder so they come out the other end an obedient employee ready for the factory and a lifetime of debt.

Everything that thumps the best out of kids (natural curiosity, delight at the world around them, do without thinking) and turns them into model workers imprisioned in an invisible jail of procrastination and perfectionism.



Go on any local enterprise office "start your own business" course and you'll be given a huge list of BS from government employees who (bless 'em) have no way of knowing better.

You need funding.

You need a business plan.

You need customer avatars.

You need a USP.

You need a logo.

You need a website.

You need SMART goals.

You need, you need, you need.

Argh!!!

Does the lad at your door asking if you need your grass cut need any of that? Or did he just do it?

The invisible chains of over-thinking and over-complicating - created by well-intentioned parents, teachers, and advisors, and passed on dutifully as the right way to do things.

"Measure twice, cut once" versus JFDI already.



The biggest lies are those that keep people as consumers, sacrificing their dreams for two weeks on the beach, all the while oblivious they're being slowly bled in shark infested waters.



Elephants are trained to stay within a 5m radius of the post by a rope around their ankles. Eventually they stay even when the rope is removed.

Similarly, the biggest lie to the crabs is that they're in a bucket, when they were free all along.
 

GMSI7D

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Can you elaborate on this?


what ??





are you serious ? come on

it reminds me of Dr phil with his saying " life is a game. be a player or be played "

at 40, my life has been played instead of me playing to win

played by society, other's opinion and so on


so now is the time to win my way
 

MidwestLandlord

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"I am a victim"

By far the biggest lie I ever believed in my life. For the longest time I didn't even realize I believed it...but I did.
 
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TheFrancophile

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Well, there've been several lies which I've believed for most of my life... or at least most of my adulthood... and I'm sure you've all heard them incessantly, too :

1) "FOLLOW YOUR PASSIONS! DO WHAT YOU LOVE!" And indeed, this is what I've been doing for most of my life. With the results you can read about in my intro. Yet, some highly popular money-making gurus continue to peddle this myth.

2) "Go to college and you'll be assured of getting a good job" (in my case, my parents told me "at the university", bc they are academics themselves).

3) "Your life should be like this: study at a top uni, get a top degree, work for 40 years, save whatever you can, be frugal, and you'll retire as a millionnaire."

4) "You have zero chance of becoming an entrepreneur. For that, you'd have to be born into a family of entrepreneurs; you'd have to inherit it in your genes."
 

LimJahey

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The biggest lie I was told is that I was in this all alone. That I didn't have a support system and was completely on my own. I've been tempted to quit so many times whether it be because I’ve begun to prioritize something else, can’t find the time anymore or simply am not seeing the results I wanted, the temptation to quit is an always present one. Regardless of where you are in your journey, there will always be temptation to quit. http://prsuit.com/life-in-review/feel-like-giving-up/ <--- That had so many good examples of why you should not quit and that you're not in whatever your situation is all alone.
 

SteveO

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Focusing on keeping costs down and cutting overheads is what kept me from focusing on increasing profits.

Its a lie I told myself...

And I blame myself for that.
If I have 1M in income and 1.2 M in expenses, there may be some focus on expenses.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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If I have 1M in income and 1.2 M in expenses, there may be some focus on expenses.

Steve, shhhhhh, you've just exposed most guru courses that advertise "I did $1M last year, and I will show you how you can too!"
 

Andy Black

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"Opportunity knocks once in a lifetime. When it does, grab it by both hands and hang on."


Errr, no. When your ears are tuned to the sound of opportunity then it's like a drumroll on your door.
 

Gareth

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If I have 1M in income and 1.2 M in expenses, there may be some focus on expenses.

That really depends doesn't it?

If your 1.2 million meant you were acquiring customers.....who would in the coming years return a multiple of that 1m income...then its not an expense it is an investment.
 

MTF

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Making money is hard.

But well, it's not entirely a lie because it is hard if you don't understand that making money is all about providing value.
 
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Andy Black

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Making money is hard.

But well, it's not entirely a lie because it is hard if you don't understand that making money is all about providing value.
Similarly, that you even have to "make" money.

It's all around us, flowing like a huge current (currency anyone?).

We just have to connect to it and get some of it to flow through us.
 

Dan_Fastlane

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i've always been told to make great education, with 15 i started to make websites(for fun about dragonball xD) but everyone was pushing me to make an apprinticeship or go to school, i believed them because they said you will be a succes with good education (big bullshit). They tellin always people are to old to become a pro in one field because you need to start at 6- 13 somethere, also stupid in my eyes, i believed also = if i learned to be a plumber or something similar, thats what my whole life will going and end up (McGregor is a good example who started with 17-18 MMA and became world class with 26). Yes maybe u need to start young to become a world class athelete but you are never to old to change your life or your path, you can always learn.
 

Anthony Mathapo

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Biggest Lie - party while your young and work hard when your old

more lies...
1. old age will be your best years...
2. MONEY IS PAPER "LOL" - This one has enslaved many people, we all know what wealth really is "ASSETS''
 
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LynetteP

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I am a big believer in positive thinking.

The world that we live in has always been one of opinions, ideas, and challenges. We form our perception by what we live and experience. Our perception IS how we view the world.

People are not trying to tell us lies. So, they are not lies. They are someone else telling us about how they view the world.

If we try and tell the rest of the world about our perception, it is not accepted very well. It will be perceived as bullshit.

We are fortunate that we think differently about how the financial world works. But, we should not look down at others that give us advice that does not fit into our reality. Those people are not trying to mislead us. They are not dumb. They have a different perspective of the world is all.

You can be dirt poor and live a fulfilling and satisfying life. You can be filthy rich and live a horrible existence.

These are not lies. They are other people's truths. :smoking:

I had realized this for many people, but...

This allows me to forgive other "lies" (besides financial ones) much more easily- from narcissists. It has been difficult to wrap my head around why someone would tell another human that they are ______ when it's obviously not so. But if a narcissist believes they are fat (even when they aren't) they will sincerely believe the people they subconsciously try to control are too. They project their supposed shortcomings, and it's simply their truth. Wrong, but theirs. Sincerely, thank you for this perspective!
 

redplant

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"You're the best person in the room." -- This crippling lie had kept me from improving myself (learning new skills and taking difficult challenges to improve the ones that I already have) and instead shifted my attention on things that don't matter (appearing to be best, unmarred by mistakes or failures). It made me event-driven, finding the easiest route, just so I can show people how I'm the smartest, and not taking anything difficult for fear of failure and people seeing through me.

Thanks to MJ and that chapter on Unscripted , I now know how to deal with this.
 

sparechange

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Rich people are lucky / criminals. This was a 100% belief of mine!

One time I met a guy with a nice Porsche, he mentioned being a drug dealer.......

People should be taught from youth about wealth, not lied to and misguided.

Please don't tell me I'm the only one!?!?!?
 
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SteveO

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On a similar topic. Not only do we believe lies but we lie to ourselves through doubt. We all probably do this to some extent.

I ran a number of marathons a few years ago. One race in particular required all runners to be shuttled to the start on busses. A few of the invited runners were driven up in a vans. The rest of us were crammed into busses. There were a few thousand participants.

I found myself looking around at the young, lean participants thinking how fast they might be. I was 48 and heavier than most runners. Not lean and mean for sure. But, worked hard at the training regiment.

Anyway. I finally snapped out of it and looked around again. The reality clicked in that it was unlikely that any of them would beat me. I was psyching myself out without the conscious thought of it.

I finished 16th place overall.

It is unlikely that the doubt would have changed the results. But, it could certainly affect decision making on a daily basis. Don't allow yourself to fall into that trap of thinking others are better than you.
 

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