Are you a winner or loser?
You only lose (or win) if you abide by the rules of the game. If you acknowledge you don’t need to be constrained by those rules, then you are free to make your own choices and decide what winning means for you. For 2022, I challenge you to watch out for binary choices because they often cloud our ability to see all the other options out there or worse, they paralyze you into inaction.
Binary choices are enticing because our brains are biologically coded to detect patterns which helps us simplify complex things into easily digestible (and memorable) stories. Common examples of binary choices are:
- Good vs Evil
- Childhood vs Adulthood
- Work/Life balance
- High Performers vs Poor Performers
- In shape vs out of shape
- Conservative vs Liberal
- Blue Pill or Red Pill
…the list is endless.
You may have guessed I’m a fan of the movie The Matrix, which came out with a new sequel. (NO SPOILERS unless you missed the original movie 20 years ago). In the Movie, Neo is presented with the famous binary choice, red pill or blue pill (e.g. real world or artificial world).
However,
the irony is that Neo lives in both worlds as the movie is about his journey to
navigate the path between each world.
The key theme of the movie is that anybody that accepts only one of the
two choices will suffer an unfulfilling life that is largely controlled by
external forces. Those that reject those
two options can transcend above and live life with freedom and
enlightenment. It’s a good lesson
because if we want to take more control of our lives, let’s rise above the
built-in narratives imposed on us.
Said
another way, being constrained by binary choices is like driving a car with
only a front and rear window with no mirrors.
You might get where you are going but it’ll be a boring drive and you’ll
likely endanger yourself and those around you.
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