“The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion.”
Jack Dorsey
Having strong opinions is important in a world where most people use the same items and consume the same media. If you find yourself in a group of people agreeing with everything everyone says, then you have a serious problem. To be clear, I’m not suggesting you should be contrarian for the sake of being contrarian. I’m saying you should be an independent thinker. Then comes the second part: you must support your strong opinions with definitive action.
Expressing one’s opinions is easy. In fact, it’s never been easier to share your views. When you talk with most people, they are well-versed in current events and have their own viewpoints about them. Can their opinions change anything, however? No, they can’t. Regardless of how you feel about war, the economy, or global warming, you can’t change the world on opinions alone. Even if you’re strongly passionate about sports or movies, your opinions aren’t that important because, on their own, they mean nothing.
Like I said, it’s never been easier to express your opinion. You can use popular platforms to do something about it. You can launch a Substack to make your voice heard, contribute to the causes you’re passionate about, organize a fundraiser, and so on. At the end of the day, it’s easier not to do something than to do it. This means your viewpoints, on their own, are pointless.
For the longest time, I said to myself that I was going to grab that guitar hanging on the wall next to me and play consistently. And for the longest time, I didn’t. Something interesting happened at some point. Instead of forcing myself to pick up the instrument, I just did it. And the more I played it, the more I learned, and the more motivated I became. Also, I started doing it for myself instead of others. In the end, nothing replaces doing the thing. From now on, I want to develop a bias toward action, not expressing opinions. After all, the world is full of the former and sorely lacking in the latter.
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