Copy Right -Understanding the art of learning from others -Part 10

The Choice between Sentiment and Substance.

There are so many things that affect the decisions we make and how we see certain situations. You may have been in a circumstance where you knew what was right for you at the time, but you changed your choice because of some other considerations. It could be an influential factor for some people as they may be willing to follow a certain way based on connections, feelings, how they think about others, but not based on facts. It usually occurs when the attachment is more important the truth.

Many have chosen to follow a lifestyle that they cannot afford. It could be in a bid to please others or be like some people to which they have some attachment. This type of choice is usually an attempt to look or be like some people so that those people could have a false impression. Some derive happiness from this. Many try so hard to please others and displease themselves in the process. They prefer to destroy themselves so that some others may feel they are doing well, even though they are not.

I know a few people that prefer to run their business at a loss. They continue to do so because they want to keep the status of a business owner or Director instead of doing something else that could be profitable but will not have such titles. They try to attract the same honour or respect like some people in the industry, but they are not the same in reality.

Some may borrow money to finance birthday parties to give an impression of a similar or higher standard to some of their friends. Many buy cars that are destroying their finances as the purchase and maintenance cost is far too high than what they could conveniently afford. The only reason why they will not stop and consider the facts is that there is something more important to them than reason, which is to give others a false impression of who they are.

It is the reason why some people buy what they do not need. The only justification is that someone has got it and since they have some attachment to that person they also need to get it even when they do not need it, and cannot afford it.

There are so many people struggling financially today because of the way they think and make decisions. They spend so much with the hope to get respect from people by being what they are not, but eventually they discover that it is hard to maintain and lead them to frustrations. The bid to earn the respect someone has without actually being them or someone like them will lead to disappointment because the truth will soon be known.

Many follow the errors of their leaders, not because they do not know but because the attachment is more important in their view, and they become blind to the mistakes. In places where truth is valued, you will observe that even though a leader is respected, that does not overwrite the wrong he has done. That is why some leaders step down, resign or apologise so that his errors are not approved, or seen as something to copy even if it was from a high profile figure in the society. If the fear of losing the leader is more important than truth, then that community will start to crumble.

So many people have followed leaders they consider to be good. They sometimes, took their errors as well, because of sentiments even when the facts are there to prove the error. There will always be a problem if we do not face the issues or facts but only make decisions based on sentiments. Everyone should be able to make decisions based on facts, to avoid being misled or creating further problems. You may have witnessed some followers justify every act of their leaders, even when some of them are wrong. They have made the person more important than the facts. It will eventually affect the value of such people.

I once heard a student applying for a Course in the University because a friend chose the Course. The decision, which was made, based on friendship and not facts may lead her to a different destination in future. The fact that they are friend does not mean they have to make the same choices in life. They are still unique individuals, and each could find fulfilment in different professions. The decision, which may well be the same, could have been made based on facts. It will ensure that each of them can continue with their lives even if the friendship comes to an end.

A Human resource manager may decide to hire someone incompetent for so many reasons. It may be because they think the same way, look the same, have some attachment, easy to manage, related and so on. The decision may bring some benefits to the Manager to fulfil some selfish needs. However, it may affect the organisation because the person with the required competence for some reasons was rejected, and the business will struggle for the lack of it. Many people follow this example and put themselves first and watch the whole organisation, community, or nation suffer for such decisions. Some many businesses, institutions, and countries have suffered from the effects of appointing people based on sentiments.

There could be times when such decisions may not affect other people, and some might decide to ignore the facts and follow the sentiments for personal reasons. For instance, a situation where a family member is willing to pay more for something that belongs to a loved one. There could be so many things we value because of our attachment to it, and we have the power of choice.

There are so many things people do, but we must be careful and study the facts before we make decisions to follow suit. We must also understand the decisions we make and the implications of such, not just on ourselves but others as well.

To be continued next week, don’t miss it.

I hope you have found this post valuable, please leave a comment below and share with others. Send in your questions or contributions as well if you have any, I will be glad to hear from you.

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