Why Every Industry Is Scandalously Wrong (About Everything)
If one seeks The Truth, he must be prepared to walk alone.
Perform a google search for anything you wish, and all the results will be composed of lies.
You are alone.
Search for “finding peace,” and you will find meditation, mindfulness, and a list of things to do.
Will they bring you permanent peace?
No. (You likely have already tried on numerous occasions).
You are alone.
Search for “how to become a world class golfer,” and you will find all sorts of articles from the biggest journals in the industry, written by tour pros themselves.
Will they make you world class, even if you follow Every Single Thing they say?
No. (This has been done for decades. And more than 99 percent of highly skilled golfers who do all of these things Never become world class. And many of the ones who do regularly lose their tour card).
You are alone.
Search for computer programming, coding, creating a business, becoming a great leader, maximize your performance, how exactly to win, creating wealth, living in health, and on and on and on . . .
The things you will find in the 7.38 million search results will be utterly useless to you. They will be derivative, regurgitated, conditioned, age-old repetitive and impotent advice that lives in the pages of books, and never in the sun and the air of the Real World.
You are alone.
Attend a university, get your MBA, get 5 degrees printed in latin on high quality paper. And when you arrive at the gates of the Real World, you will see that all that you have learned is Not Applicable.
You are alone.
They say that less than 1 percent of athletes make it to the professional level.
Is this true?
I have not examined the numbers. But it is likely less than 0.5 percent.
But then things begin to fall apart. Then the scandalous lies begin to appear.
The sports industry, the media, the coaches, and virtually all the people involved conclude that because less than 1 percent make it to the professional level . . .
The odds are stacked completely against one . . .
That it is foolish to pursue it without a “backup plan” . . .
That one is not being “realistic” or “practical” . . .
Why is such a conclusion reached?
More specifically, why is such a message repeated across loudspeakers all around the world? Google it, and what you will find is that not only is this message popular, mainstream, and ubiquitous in the culture, the spirit in which it is spoken is one of pride.
Not only is the sports industry and all those who surround it ready and willing to take every opportunity to spread this propaganda, they do it gleefully.
Why is this the case?
Two reasons.
Firstly, human beings are expert excuse-makers. Many individuals in the sports world did not make it to the pro ranks and thus, if “they” couldn’t do it, how can they allow themselves the permission to believe that anyone else can? (Unless the results are so unmistakable that they have no choice but to acquiesce). Their mental well-being rests upon the fact that it is incredibly difficult to make it, so that they can breathe easier for not having made it themselves.
Secondly, humans are not interested in The Truth. They are interested in only the things that support their own views and perceptions. Humans are fare-weather fans. They are common. They are the masses. They are sheep. This applies to over 99 percent of the world population. For them, The Truth is not something that will set them free. It is something that will imprison them. For then they will be forced to answer questions that their mind raises.
What is the real reason that less than one percent make it to the pro ranks? And why only a small fraction of the pros become superstars?
Being behind the velvet ropes, working with some of the biggest names in the world of professional sports, industry, and celebrity I will tell you that nothing is at seems.
Nothing.
First, it is the metaphor of a car wash. If one goes through a car wash of conditioning, being told from every direction how difficult it is and how good everyone else is and how much the odds are stacked against them, it becomes enormously difficult for all but a robust few to overcome the scars of this car-wash conditioning.
Second, it is implied by the numbers that all of those who set out to make it are equally serious. I assure you this is not the case.
The car-wash of conditioning, the funds to support themselves, the family obligations, the dislike for travel, the loneliness, the self-belief or the lack thereof, and many other factors completely unrelated to talent eliminate a significant percentage of the prospects.
The Real numbers are nowhere close to what the industry would love for you to believe, and is secretly desperate to convince themselves of.
Every industry is a derivative industry. It follows the “traditional ways” of doing things. It subscribes to “best practices,” and the “scientific research,” and the “expert opinions,” and the “prevailing schools of thought.”
Everyone is the same. Everyone is mired in tradition. Everyone is a propagandist.
Why?
Because everyone is a Follower.
Everyone teaches the same thing with a different brochure.
Everyone attends the same conferences wearing the same-colored lanyard.
Every athlete practices the same things.
Every coach teaches the same things.
Every student learns the same things.
Everyone goes to school, tries to make good grades, and get a good job with a generous 401-K plan.
Every golfer spends his life on the range trying to improve his backswing and his swing plane, improve his putting stroke, and go to the first tee “hoping” that he has a good round. And when he doesn’t, he returns to the range to practice that which he already knows how to do. And what he fails to recognize is that, similar to all other professional athletes, almost all the “hard work” that he pursues is done out of anxiety rather than for the need to “improve.”
Everyone and everything in this world is full of complete, total, and utter nonsense.
Everyone is Wrong.
What is The Truth?
Pedigrees mean nothing in the real world. They only mean something to admissions committees in the stale and sheltered world of academia.
(I am continually shocked that a human being can grow to be 60 years old and still remain so ignorant as to believe that grades and test scores mean anything at all. This is a startling human feat of fabulous ignorance).
Whatever industry you are in, be it finance, health, medicine, sports, investing, marketing, food, or shoe-shining, it is a 100 percent certainty that the prevailing dogmas and “best practices” of your industry are wrong, inefficient, and a fraction of what they could be. And that all the experts in your industry are completely wrong.
Understand this: If a person seeks to become anything out of the ordinary in this world, he must realize that he is all alone. For anyone that he asks will almost certainly be a conditioned person. And this conditioned person will give him conditioned advice. And this conditioned advice will make him . . . conditioned!
I am reminded of a movie I saw a long time ago, titled Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. Everyone in the town was infected and had become a zombie except for the hero of the movie (I believe it was Donald Sutherland).
This is precisely the society in which we live. The individual who believes this to be an exaggeration is one of the zombies.
Everyone in this world is Infected with conditioning. The one who seeks The Truth is all alone in this town. He cannot read books. He cannot turn on the television. He cannot read magazines. He cannot listen to the media. He cannot speak to any “experts.” For they are all infected.
They are infected by the virus of Conditioning.
A man who seeks the Truth must demand a secret password before he speaks to Anyone, in order to make certain he is not a conditioned zombie.
For exposing one’s Mind to conditioned lies has monumental consequences. Consequences one cannot imagine.
Understand this: There are no tried and true ways of doing anything that is truly grand.
“Do not reinvent the wheel?”
How silly.
The very rubber on the wheel must be reinvented!
Each and every time.
For each and every human being.
The Ultimate and most practical Truth that will serve one more than anything else in his life is this:
No One Knows Anything.
What one must understand is this: You live in a world filled with human beings. And human beings have a similar nature. And this nature is one of “sheepish-ness,” “blind following,” and “laziness.”
Every human being who populates this earth has an enormous capability. But only in theory.
Why?
Because only a few human beings have the DNA to overcome the assault of society’s conditioning.
Read that again.
The one who will not lose his way is the one who is devoted hook, line, and sinker to discovering The Truth.
And if he is this rare of a human being, he might if he is lucky find one other human being like this during his entire lifetime.
EVERYONE is irreversibly conditioned. (Except perhaps a small handful in this world).
Rare achievements are rare.
For rare humans . . . are rare.
Namaste.
Kapil Gupta is a personal advisor to Kings, Queens, CEO’s, Professional Athletes, Celebrities, and Performing Artists around the world.
His books include:
Atmamun: The Path To Achieving The Bliss Of The Himalayan Swamis. And The Freedom Of A Living God
A Master’s Secret Whispers: For those who abhor the noise and seek The Truth about life and living
Direct Truth: Uncompromising, non-prescriptive truths to the enduring questions of life