I like the title of this book, because it really does bring us to a place in our lives where we are a little more self-aware. The book talks about our ability to be aware of ourselves and the way we live in a world that is not so “self-aware.” In fact, the author argues that our lives are more self-aware than we are.
It’s true. Our lives are much more self-aware than we are. It’s not that we suddenly start to go around saying, “Hey, I’m so self-aware. I’m going to change my ways in the next five minutes.” We are the product of a society that has been self-aware for a long time. People were self-aware before that, people are still self-aware now, but we are self-aware now.
The author, Alex Blum, argues that we are self-aware because in a way we do know we can get away with anything. We don’t know we can’t have a glass of wine, but we know we can. We don’t know we can’t play a game, but we know we can. In the same way, we don’t know we can’t get away with murder, but we know we can.
I don’t know why I’m explaining this to you. I’m just saying I’ve seen it happen time and again. People who get away with murder, for instance, would be the ones who never get caught, or who never get caught by the police. The more you know, the more you can get away with. It’s the same in business. If you get away with a crime, you get away with it. If you get arrested, they won’t get you.
This goes way back. I am sure you have read about the time between the murder of a high-ranking official in a business and the murder of the company’s CEO. Then you go about your day and the next thing you know, you are back in business in a new position.
In real life, we are all afraid of getting caught and arrested. As a result, we have a whole lot more “get away with it” excuses for not doing stuff. It doesn’t matter if you get caught or not, as long as you hide your activities and keep your mouth shut. In business, it doesn’t matter if you are the one who is caught or not, you still make a lot more money than you did before.
Yes, you guessed it, I am referring to business owners. A lot of people try to avoid getting caught (or don’t really care about being caught) by making excuses for the lack of activity (or activities). They say their boss is sick or busy and not a good person to talk to, or that they have a new job and they will call the boss. When I was growing up, I was a very active person. I was a lot of things to many people.
I have been told by both friends and family that I am pretty active. The truth is, I was a bit lazy. I didn’t work hard enough, and I didn’t work long enough. So I was able to avoid any problems long enough to build up my business.
The problem with excuses is that they can be easily used to justify laziness. You say you have a new job, but you haven’t started it yet. You say you have a new car, but you have not fixed it. You say you have a new house, but you have yet to do any of the upgrades. You say you have a new house, but someone else has already done it.
But the truth is, if you start things the right way, you can avoid the excuses later on. I started my new business with no excuses, and I now have a great business that I will be able to use to start my new house.